Page 1932 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 June 2022
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I am pleased to present the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Amendment Bill 2022. This amendment bill integrates some of the recommendations that came from the recent 10-year review of the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act 2010.
As the Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, under section 26 of the act I am required to oversee a review of the operation of the act as soon as practicable after every 10 years of its operation. The Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act review in 2021 found that the act was effective in achieving its objects from 2010 to 2020.
I am pleased to announce that, overall, the act provides clear legislation that facilitates successful policy development and analysis, allowing the ACT to achieve its emissions reduction targets. A report of the review was presented and tabled at the Legislative Assembly in November 2021 and did not identify the need for significant changes to the act. However, it recommended 12 changes that would further strengthen the act’s capacity to remain effective in the future. The government agreed that nine of the 12 recommendations be implemented to ensure that the ACT continues to remain a global leader in addressing climate change.
Mr Assistant Speaker, before detailing the proposed amendments, allow me to provide some background about the review that has informed this bill. For the purposes of the review, a steering committee was formed and consisted of two ACT government senior officials, one senior official of the South Australian government and a former chair of the ACT Climate Change Council. All members are experts on matters concerning climate change and emissions reduction. The committee established the terms of reference for the review.
The government commissioned the independent review in order to assess the effectiveness of the act in achieving its objects from 2010 to 2020, and the appropriateness of the act to achieve the intended outcomes to 2030, which is the year of the next scheduled review. The four objects of the act are to set greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy targets; provide for the monitoring of and reporting on progress made to meet these targets; facilitate the government’s development of policies and programs to meet these targets and to address and adapt to climate change; and encourage private entities to take action to address climate change and recognise the entities that take action.
In assessing the act’s effectiveness and appropriateness, the review focused on the following key parts of the act: part 2, the ACT’s emissions reduction and renewable energy targets; part 3, the functions of the minister; part 4, the Climate Change Council; and part 5, sector agreements.
The committee provided input and feedback on the services provided by the independent reviewer and advised on how government should respond to the recommendations of the review. The review identified adaptation and climate action to be key focus areas for the decade ahead and provided recommendations that would strengthen the ACT’s capacity to facilitate progress in these priority areas.
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