Page 3015 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 15 September 2015
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From this year, therefore, the ACT government will produce an up-to-date inventory report in September covering the previous financial year. By doing this, we will ensure greater transparency and accountability in emissions reporting and will have a substantially better understanding of the immediate effects of mitigation actions on the territory’s emissions and our progress towards the first interim target of 40 per cent reduction by the year 2020.
Importantly, this new inventory approach will adopt a methodology based on international best practice through adherence to the 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. The inventory will also be consistent with the internationally recognised global protocol for community-scale greenhouse gas emission inventories released in 2013. The ISR, that is, the commissioner’s report, also recommended that the government adopt other aspects of the international greenhouse gas protocol, notably the greenhouse gas protocol policy action standard and the greenhouse gas protocol mitigation goals accounting and reporting standard.
The greenhouse gas protocol has become an increasingly important medium for greenhouse gas reporting, providing the reporting basis for both the Compact of Mayors and the Climate Group’s States and Regions Alliance, two international fora that the government has recently joined. Aligning the territory’s policy development and reporting processes with these organisations will assist us in ensuring that our policies and actions are recognised amongst the most progressive jurisdictions in the world.
The government is also preparing to review action plan 2 as it reaches its first review point this year. Through this review, the government will recognise and adopt the standards of the greenhouse gas protocol and apply these standards where it is appropriate to do so in future climate policy development.
The commissioner’s report also noted the importance of ensuring that climate change mitigation and adaptation policy be underpinned by reputable and robust and internationally recognised science. The government agrees with this approach. Through the ACT Climate Change Council, the government has access to some of Australia’s foremost climate scientists and academics with strong international links, including a number who are lead or contributing authors to the IPCC’s fifth assessment report. With these links and others such as the ANU Climate Change Institute, the Crawford School of Public Policy and the University of Canberra, the government will ensure that future climate policy has a sound evidence base.
The commissioner’s report found that ACT government policy and the legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets have positioned the territory as among the world’s most progressive jurisdictions in terms of mitigating the impacts of climate change. Through the challenges and opportunities identified, I am certain that the government has the ability to continue to deliver cutting edge climate policy and push the envelope in terms of pioneering mitigation and adaptation strategies.
I am very pleased with the achievements made through the implementation of AP2 since its release in 2012. I look forward to continuing to update the Assembly on how the ACT can continue to embrace the challenge of climate change and, through action, demonstrate leadership to communities locally, nationally and internationally.
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