The Climate Change Act 2022 (No. 37) is an act of the Parliament of Australia which sets binding climate change targets.
History.
The act was Australia's first federal climate legislation for a decade.
Provisions.
The act mandates that Australia reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030. The Climate Change Authority is mandated to recommend an emissions reduction target for 2035 and every five years from then on. With a target for net zero emissions in 2050.
The federal government must publish an annual report on its rogress towards meeting these goals.
Implementation.
In order to implement the legislation, the government also proposed requiring high-polluting sectors to reduce their emissions.
The first annual statement made under the legislation was published on 1 December 2022.
Reception.
The vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change described it as a big improvement on the previous government's. Gavan McFadzean, climate program manager of the Australian Conservation Foundation, supported the legislation and described it as "heartening" that Australian federal legislators were taking climate change "seriously".
The Greens described it as a "small step" in tackling climate change and the Coalition described it as wrapping a "new layer of red tape" on the economy of Australia.