Page 1356 - Week 04 - Thursday, 12 April 2018

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(2) supports the continuation of the ACT’s climate change efforts as an important way to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions, support renewable energy technologies, and benefit the ACT's economy and electricity consumers; and

(3) acknowledges the importance of emission reduction policies that:

(a) provide long term policy certainty in line with Australia’s Paris climate change commitments, including net zero emissions by 2050, with the electricity sector providing a major contribution to this target;

(b) provide a mechanism to recognise additional action by individuals, organisations and sub-national governments—such as the ACT—to reduce electricity emissions;

(d) complement the role of electricity wholesale markets as the primary signaller for infrastructure investment;

(e) facilitate flexibility in future market development including through the greater use of demand response and distributed energy systems; and

(f) support the development of a reliable and secure electricity supply system.

I would like to start this discussion by emphasising again the seriousness and magnitude of the threat that climate change poses. It is a grave threat to humankind and our way of life, to our societies and economies and to the earth’s natural environment and ecosystems. There could not be a stronger imperative for us to act urgently to mitigate climate change and to adapt to the climate change impacts we know are already inevitable.

But even if one were to take a narrow and parochial view of this issue, there is still a great imperative to act. Here in the ACT we are not immune to the impacts of climate change. We are already seeing impacts. Our own local environment will be impacted, as will our local economy and our local way of life. And the impacts will amplify for future generations of Canberrans.

The ACT is taking strong and meaningful steps when it comes to addressing climate change. I am proud to say that the ACT Greens have been integral to these outcomes. We have consistently pushed governments of all persuasions to act on climate change for our entire history in the Assembly, from 1996, when the ACT Greens called on the ACT government to develop a greenhouse gas reduction target specifically for the territory, through the consecutive parliamentary agreements which have resulted in the progressive targets and renewable energy investments that are serving the ACT so well today.

We have talked about these issues several times before in this Assembly, including during the debate yesterday. I had an opportunity to catch up on Hansard last night and see some of the comments that were made. What I want to focus on today is the very real threat that the ACT’s efforts on climate change will be undone and undermined by policies proposed by the federal government in the form of the national energy guarantee, the NEG.

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