Climate Change Bill 2022, Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bills for a second time. In other words, they voted to agree with the main idea of the bills so they can now discuss them in more detail.

What does the Climate Change Bill 2022 do?

According to the bills digest, the bill's primary purpose:

...is to incorporate Australia’s national greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (‘emissions reduction targets’, or ‘targets’) in national laws.

The Paris Agreement, to which Australia is a Party, requires Parties to set economy wide absolute emission reduction targets, and to describe these in documents known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Although Australia updated its emission reduction targets in an NDC pledge made to the international community in June 2022, the detail of the targets is not presently codified in national law. If enacted, [this bill] would address that situation.

[The bill] has three key functions:

• to set out Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in domestic law
• to require annual Ministerial statements to Parliament regarding climate change and progress towards achievement of emissions reduction targets
• to give advisory functions regarding these targets and statements to the Climate Change Authority (CCA).

What does the Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022 do?

According to the bills digest, the bill would:

... amend 14 existing Commonwealth Acts relating to climate, energy, infrastructure investment, and scientific research.

The main purpose of the amendments is to require selected Commonwealth entities (including the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Clean Energy Regulator (CER), Export Finance Australia, Infrastructure Australia, and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to consider the emissions reduction targets when exercising their statutory responsibilities.

[The bill] does this by proposing new sections or amending/replacing existing sections to include:

• an objective of facilitating achievement of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets into the objects clause of the majority of the nominated Acts
• to clarify the constitutional basis of some of the named Acts.