Climate change update | 29 July 2022

28 Jul 2022

Climate Change legislation tabled in Parliament

With the first sitting of parliament this week, the government has wasted no time in releasing its new climate change legislation. The Climate Change Bill 2022 and associated Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022 were tabled as the second order of business on Wednesday.

The key elements of the Climate Change Bill are to:

  • Legislate the Nationally Determined Contribution of 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050;
  • Task the independent Climate Change Authority to provide advice on progress against the targets, and advise on new targets under the Paris Agreement for 2035 and future 5-yearly increments to 2050;
  • Require the Minister for Climate Change to report annually to parliament on progress in meeting our targets. 

While the Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill embeds the the targets in the objectives and functions of a range of key government agencies including ARENA, CEFC, Clean Energy Regulator and Infrastructure Australia.

The bills will be debated in the house over the current sitting fortnight, with the government expected to use its numbers in the house to pass the bills by the end of next week. However, the fate of the bills in the senate is unknow at this stage, as it will require support from the greens and at least one other senator from the cross bench to pass.







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