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ARTICLE · 13 OCTOBER 2022

New Legislation Shaping Australia's Emissions Reduction Policy

Jones Day
Jones Day
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The new laws are an important component of the new Australian government's emissions reduction and renewable energy transition plan.

AustraliaEnvironment
Jennifer L. Chambers
Jennifer L. Chambers
Adam Conway
Adam Conway
Dan Howard
Dan Howard
Darren Murphy
Darren Murphy
Leah Ratcliff
Leah Ratcliff
Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith
Tony Wassaf
Tony Wassaf
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In Short

The Situation: Significant climate law reforms came into force in Australia on 15 September 2022, with the commencement of the Climate Change Act 2022 (Cth) ("Climate Change Act") and the Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Act 2022 (Cth) ("Consequential Amendments Act") (together, the "Acts").

The Result: The new legislation enshrines emissions reduction targets of 43% on 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 (together, the "Targets"), which may be increased in line with the Paris Agreement. This is a significant increase compared to the targets that were put in place by the previous Coalition government of 26-28% by 2030. The new laws also require the Minister for Climate Change and Energy (the "Minister") to table in Parliament an annual climate change statement (the "Annual Statement") reporting on Australia's progress toward meeting the Targets. Express obligations are also imposed upon government agencies to take the Targets into

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