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23/11/2020
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications
Parliament House
PO Box 6100
Canberra ACT 2600
[email protected]
Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023
To the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications regarding the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023
Dear Committee Secretariat,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission into the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023 and taking the time to consider our submission.
This is a submission supporting the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023.
The government is responsible for the environment, the health and wellbeing of its citizens, and the financial security of the nation. As we see the impact of increased carbon emissions, we also find evidence of the deleterious impact on Australian native wildlife, the Australian people and the wealth of the nation. There is only 4 years left at present emission rates of the 2013-2050 emission budget to stay below 1.5°C. Therefore, at current emissions rates, Australia will have exceeded its carbon budget for 2050 by 2027. By 2055 Australia will experience economic losses on par with covid, getting worse every single year due to unchecked climate change.5
However, those that will suffer the most from the effects of climate change, children and future generations, are the least protected, with current Australian climate change legislation lacking on the rights of children and future generations.
The IPCC stated that global emissions need to reach net zero by 2050 to be consistent to limiting warming to 1.5 °C.5 Furthermore, The IEA (2021) stated that to achieve net zero by 2050, no new oil and gas fields should be approved for development together with no new coal mines or mine extensions.[1]
CLEANaS is the Clean Energy Association of Newcastle and Surrounds, a not-for-profit association formed in 2012 by a group of locals passionate about clean energy.[2] CLEANaS is dedicated to driving the uptake of clean energy so that our region can transition from its current dependency on fossil fuels to a more competitive and sustainable local economy. We achieve this by working with our partners to demonstrate profitable community-led and community-owned clean energy projects; raise the profile of clean energy in the local economy through education and awareness raising; and by improving access to financing mechanisms and affordable technologies so that investment and activity grow. Our initiatives must deliver a win-win for local community investors, local enterprise and, of course, our environment.
Climate Change ImpactsThe impacts of climate change on the environment are significant and severe. The present scientific consensus is that the earth's climate is warming due to human activity, and the negative impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions are measurable globally and nationally.[3]
Australia’s climate has warmed on average by 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910, which has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events.[4] The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO reported that there has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and in the length of the fire season, across large parts of the country since the 1950s, as evidenced by the catastrophic bushfires in the summer of 2019/2020. They also noted changes in rainfall, with decreases in the southeast and southwest of Australia as shown by the devastating drought in 2019. Oceans around Australia they stated are acidifying and have warmed by about 1°C since 1910 bringing longer and more frequent marine heatwaves. In the past 5 years there have been three major mass-bleaching events at the Great Barrier Reef resulting from these marine heatwaves, and resulting in the destruction of over half of the reef’s corals.[5] The Great Barrier Reef has an economic, social and iconic asset value estimated at $56 billion, contributes around $6.4 billion annually to the Australian economy and supports over 64,000 jobs.[6] Sea levels are also rising around Australia, increasing the risk of coastal inundation and damage to infrastructure and communities.2
The government is responsible for the environment, the health and wellbeing of its citizens, and the financial security of the nation. As we see the impact of increased carbon emissions, we also find evidence of the deleterious impact on Australian native wildlife, the Australian people and the wealth of the nation.
Emission goals and carbon budgetsTo address the issue of dangerous climate change, Australia, along with 196 other parties, is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, which entered into force on 4 November 2016. The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, by:
Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.[7]
In 2020 Australia emitted 1.1% of world greenhouse gas emissions. This made Australia the world’s 16th biggest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution, despite having just 0.33% of world population.[8] On a per capita basis. Australian emissions are the highest in the OECD and among the highest in the world. The only countries with higher per capita emissions than Australia are smaller petro-states like Kuwait, Qatar and UAE and some Small Island Developing States. [9] [10] [11]
Australia has a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Furthermore, in 2022, The Australian Government increased the ambition of its 2030 target in 2022, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 43% below 2005 levels by 2030[12] .
It should be noted that Australia’s commitment is insufficient to limit warming to 1.5C. The IPCC calculated level of GHG reductions required by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5C is a 43% GHG reduction based on 2019 emissions. Adjusting this figure for Australia’s baseline year of 2005 (a particularly high emission year) results in a required 48% reduction in emissions (below 2005 levels) required by 2030 to ensure a >50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C[13] [14]. The Climate Council and Climate Targets Panel both recommend that Australia cut its emissions 74-75% (based on 2005 levels) by 2030, and aim to reach net zero by 2035 to remain within 1.5C warming[15] [16] .
The IPCC report provides an estimate for a global remaining carbon budget of 580 GtCO2 (excluding permafrost feedbacks) based on a 50% probability of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees relative to 1850 to 1900 during and beyond this century and a remaining carbon budget of 420 GtCO2 for a 67% chance.[17]
Committed emissions from existing and proposed energy infrastructure represent more than the entire carbon budget that remains if mean warming is to be limited to 1.5 °C and perhaps two-thirds of the remaining carbon budget if mean warming is to be limited to less than 2 °C. Estimates suggest that little or no new CO2-emitting infrastructure can be commissioned, and that existing infrastructure may need to be retired early in order to meet the Paris Agreement climate goals.[18]
From Jan 2017 until 2050 Australia’s remaining emission budget for a 50% chance of warming to stay below 1.5C warming relative to pre-industrial levels was estimated to be 5.5 GTCO2e.7 Adding the GHG emissions expended from 2017 until 2022[19] [20], this leaves just 2.5 Gt CO2e remaining as at December 2022 which equates to only 4 years left at present emission rates of the 2013-2050 emission budget to stay below 1.5°C. Therefore, at current emissions rates, Australia will have exceeded its carbon budget for 2050 by 2027.
Economic risksDeloitte Access Economics noted that some of the most significant risks to Australia’s economic growth trajectory are from the physical risks associated with a changing climate and the unplanned economic transition risk from the world’s response to this changing climate.16
Their analysis showed that the Australian industries hardest hit by the Covid 19 pandemic would also be the most vulnerable to the effects of a warming world and climate change. Australia’s agriculture, construction, manufacturing, tourism related industries and mining sectors all featured consistently in the top industries exposed to the risks of covid, climate change and the unplanned economic transition as the world responds. Deloitte Access Economics estimated that by 2055 Australia will experience economic losses on par with Covid 19.16
Net Zero Emissions by 2050The IPCC stated that global emissions need to reach net zero by 2050 to be consistent to limiting warming to 1.5 °C.5 Modelling has shown that moving towards a net zero emissions economy would unlock financial prospects in sectors including manufacturing and renewables triggering a $63 billion investment boom.[21] Deloitte Access Economics estimates such a new growth recovery could grow Australia’s economy by $680 billion (present value terms) and increase GDP by 2.6% in 2070 – adding over 250,000 jobs to the Australian economy by 2070.[22]
The Australian Government has now committed to developing a 2050 Net Zero plan and 2035 emission reduction targets consistent with Australia’s international and domestic commitments.[23] However, since May 2022, 4 new coal mines or expansions were approved in Australia that will result in an additional 147 million tonnes of carbon emissions. An additional 25 additional proposals for new or expanded coal mines are currently awaiting Federal Government approval that would release over 12 billion tonnes of carbon emissions if approved.[24] The International Energy Agency (2021) stated that to achieve net zero by 2050, no new oil and gas fields can be approved for development together with no new coal mines or mine extensions.[25]
Intergenerational EquityFailing to act on climate change today will result in the costs and damages of climate change increasing over time, with these burdens being borne by future generations.[26] [27] The Principle of Equality states that all generations should bear a similar weight for the burdens of climate change, and that all generations are obligated to not violate intergenerational or intragenerational equality.[28] So future generations should not bear substantially greater burdens or responsibilities for climate change compared to previous generations, and that individuals and groups within generations ought to bear comparable burdens and responsibilities to each other.
Weiss (2008)[29] in their seminal article on the theory of intergenerational equity stated that global climate change induced by human activities “raises serious issues of justice between the present generation and future generations, and between communities within future generations”. Weiss claimed that as all generations interact with the earth, every generation needs to pass the Earth and its resources on in at least as good a condition or a better condition than it was received. Weiss proposed 3 principles of intergenerational equity, specifically that present generations conserve the diversity of natural resources for future generations, ensuring the quality of the environment is comparable between generations and generations have similar access to the earth and its resources. However, the environment is deteriorating at an increasing rate due in part to climate change, such as increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and species extinctions. Furthermore, natural resources likely impacted by climate change include land for habitation or agriculture, and fresh water sources. Nguyen (2021) noted that if we do not act to address climate change, resources over time will dwindle which will threaten the prospects of future generations having equitable access to resources as compared to present or past generations.
Weiss (2008) concluded that to fulfil our responsibility to future generations we must respect the principles of intergenerational equity and strategies to combat climate change need to reflect the principles of intergenerational equity.
Children and Climate ChangeAustralia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which recognises that children have the same human rights as adults, while also needing special protection due to their vulnerability. The guiding principles of the CRC includes putting the best interests of the child first in all decisions that affect them. The Committee on the Rights of Children, that monitors implementation of the CRC, recently emphasised the urgent need to address the adverse effects of climate change on children’s rights and that “Governments should consider children’s rights in all decisions made about climate change and consider climate change in all decisions being made about children”[30] .
Children are especially vulnerable and will suffer disproportionately to the effects of climate change. They have little say in climate policy decisions that will contribute to future climate impacts and have little or no control over the environment that they will inherit. Children are already experiencing the impacts of climate change through climate change fueled climate and environmental hazards, impacting on their current and future wellbeing. UNICEF stated that approximately 1 billion children are at an “extremely high risk” of the impacts of climate change.[31]
Those that have contributed the least to climate change, children, those in poverty, and future generations are the most affected. Save the Children stated that due to climate change:
This BillCLEANaS supports the passing of this Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity bill.
Currently, Australian legislation is ill-equipped to address the human rights impacts of climate change for both children and future generations. This bill establishes a clear obligation for Government Ministers and decision-makers to consider the potential impacts of climate change on future generation’s wellbeing.
In particular the bill would create a new duty of care of decision makers to consider the health and wellbeing of current and future generations when considering decisions that may worsen the effects of climate change such as commissioning new fossil fuel infrastructure (such as the Gas fired power station currently being built in Kurri Kurri here in the Hunter Valley that will be incapable of running on more than 30% hydrogen even with additional investment[33]) or the approval of new fossil fuel mines or mine extensions (such as the Mount Pleasant Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley that will result in 876 million tonnes of emissions).
Furthermore, the bill would prohibit decisions that would lead to levels of emissions that pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of children and would promote intergenerational equity within government decision making.
As additional emissions result in greater impacts of climate change no matter where they are created (in Australia or Overseas), the impact of this proposed legislation on a decision to approve a fossil fuel project would not depend on location of the infrastructure or where the emissions are created. This would also include decisions on public funding and loans for fossil fuel infrastructure projects. The decision maker would also need to take into consideration if the emissions resulting from such a decision would impact on Australia’s emission reduction targets.
CLEANaS strongly supports imposing a duty of care on decision-makers to consider the health and well-being of current and future children in Australia when making administrative decisions that contribute to climate change and urges the Commonwealth Government to support the Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity bill.
Thank you for considering our submission,
Sincerely,
Alec Roberts
CLEANaS Chair on behalf of CLEANaS
[1] IEA. (2021). Net Zero by 2050. A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
[2] http://www.cleanas.org.au/
[3] NASA (n.d.) Scientific Consensus: Earth's Climate is Warming. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
[4] BOM (2022) State of the Climate 2022. Retrieved from http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/2022/documents/2022-state-of-the-climate-web.pdf
[5] Readfearn, G. (2020, April 7). Great Barrier Reef's third mass bleaching in five years the most widespread yet. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/07/great-barrier-reefs-third-mass-bleaching-in-five-years-the-most-widespread-ever
[6] Deloitte Access Economics (2017, June 23). At what price? The economic, social and icon value of the Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved from https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/the-value
[7] IPCC (2018). Global Warming of 1.5°C: An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
[8] World Population Review. (2023). CO₂ Emissions by Country 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/co2-emissions-by-country
[9] Swann, T. (2019, July). High Carbon from a Land Down Under: Quantifying CO2 from Australia’s fossil fuel mining and exports. Retrieved from https://www.tai.org.au/sites/default/files/P667%20High%20Carbon%20from%20a%20Land%20Down%20Under%20%5BWEB%5D_0_0.pdf
[10] Ritchie, H. (2019, October 4). Where in the world do people emit the most CO2? Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/per-capita-co2
[11] Statistica. (2023). Per capita carbon dioxide emissions worldwide in 2021, by country. Retrieved 23 November 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/270508/co2-emissions-per-capita-by-country/
[12] Australian Government. (2022). Australia’s Nationally Determined Contribution: Communication 2022. UNFCCC Nationally Determined Contributions Registry. Retrieved 24 March 2023, from https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/Australias%20NDC%20June%202022%20Update%20%283%29.pdf
[13] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2023). Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
[14] Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2008). 4613.0 - Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends 2007. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 25 March 2023, fromhttps://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/2f762f95845417aeca25706c00834efa/4FC4AA7DF35CC331CA2573C60010400D?opendocument#:~:text=Australia's%20net%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions,were%20102.2%25%20of%201990%20levels.
[15] Climate Council (2022) Labor’s 2030 emissions targets must aim higher and go faster. Retrieved 4 June 2023, from https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/labors-2030-emissions-targets-must-aim-higher/
[16] Climate Targets Panel (2021) Australia’s Paris Agreement Pathways: Updating the Climate Change Authority’s 2014 Emissions Reduction Targets. Retrieved 4 June 2023, from https://www.climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/files/site1/docs/%5Bmi7%3Ami7uid%5D/ClimateTargetsPanelReport.pdf
[17] Meinshausen, M. (2019, March 19). Deriving a global 2013-2050 emission budget to stay below 1.5°C based on the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C. Retrieved from https://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/421704/Deriving-a-1.5C-emissions-budget-for-Victoria.pdf
[18] Tong, D., Zhang, Q., Zheng, Y., Caldeira, K., Shearer, C., Hong, C., Qin, Y., & Davis, S. J. (2019). Committed emissions from existing energy infrastructure jeopardize 1.5 °C climate target. Nature, 572(7769), 373-377. https://doi-org.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1038/s41586-019-1364-3
[19] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). (n.d.). Australia's National Greenhouse Accounts: Paris Agreement inventory. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023 from https://greenhouseaccounts.climatechange.gov.au/
[20] 2022 Snapshot emissions profile – Ironbark Sustainability and Beyond Zero Emissions.
[21] Cox, L. (2020, Oct 12). Net zero emissions target for Australia could launch $63bn investment boom. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/12/net-zero-emissions-target-for-australia-could-launch-63bn-investment-boom
[22] Deloitte Access Economics (2020, November) A new choice: Australia’s climate for growth. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-dae-new-choice-climate-growth-051120.pdf?nc=1
[23] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). (2023). Net Zero, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the
Environment and Water. Retrieved 23
November 2023, from https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/emissions-reduction/net-zero
[24] The Australia Institute. (n.d). Project Coal Mine Tracker. Retrieved 23 November 2023 from https://australiainstitute.org.au/initiative/coal-mine-tracker/
[25] IEA. (2021). Net Zero by 2050. A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
[26] Gardiner, S. (2001) The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change: A Perfect Moral Storm. Oxford University Press, p. 143.
[27] Nguyen, J.M. (2021). Cosmopolitan Intergenerational Justice and Climate Change. [PhD thesis, University of California, Irvine]. eScholarship. https://escholarship.org/content/qt2h50d7p0/qt2h50d7p0.pdf?t=r052rd
[28] Schuppert, F. (2011) Climate Change Mitigation and Intergenerational Justice. Environmental Politics. Vol 20, No.3.. p. 307.
[29] Weiss, E.B. (2008). Climate Change, Intergenerational Equity and International Law. Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2637&context=facpub
[30] Committee on the Rights of the Child (2023). CRC/C/GC/26: General comment No. 26 (2023) on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change. Retrieved 123 November 2023 from https://www.ohchr.org/en/events/events/2023/launch-general-comment-no-26-2023-childrens-rights-and-environment-special-focus
[31] UNICEF. (2021). The impacts of climate change put almost every child at risk. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/stories/impacts-climate-change-put-almost-every-child-risk
[32] Save the Children. (n.d.). The Climate Crisis: Climate Change Is a Grave Threat to Children’s Survival. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency-response/climate-change
[33] Snowy Hydro. (n.d.) Hunter Power Project. Retrieved from https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/hunter-power-project/
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications
Parliament House
PO Box 6100
Canberra ACT 2600
[email protected]
Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023
To the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications regarding the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023
Dear Committee Secretariat,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission into the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023 and taking the time to consider our submission.
This is a submission supporting the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023.
The government is responsible for the environment, the health and wellbeing of its citizens, and the financial security of the nation. As we see the impact of increased carbon emissions, we also find evidence of the deleterious impact on Australian native wildlife, the Australian people and the wealth of the nation. There is only 4 years left at present emission rates of the 2013-2050 emission budget to stay below 1.5°C. Therefore, at current emissions rates, Australia will have exceeded its carbon budget for 2050 by 2027. By 2055 Australia will experience economic losses on par with covid, getting worse every single year due to unchecked climate change.5
However, those that will suffer the most from the effects of climate change, children and future generations, are the least protected, with current Australian climate change legislation lacking on the rights of children and future generations.
The IPCC stated that global emissions need to reach net zero by 2050 to be consistent to limiting warming to 1.5 °C.5 Furthermore, The IEA (2021) stated that to achieve net zero by 2050, no new oil and gas fields should be approved for development together with no new coal mines or mine extensions.[1]
CLEANaS is the Clean Energy Association of Newcastle and Surrounds, a not-for-profit association formed in 2012 by a group of locals passionate about clean energy.[2] CLEANaS is dedicated to driving the uptake of clean energy so that our region can transition from its current dependency on fossil fuels to a more competitive and sustainable local economy. We achieve this by working with our partners to demonstrate profitable community-led and community-owned clean energy projects; raise the profile of clean energy in the local economy through education and awareness raising; and by improving access to financing mechanisms and affordable technologies so that investment and activity grow. Our initiatives must deliver a win-win for local community investors, local enterprise and, of course, our environment.
Climate Change ImpactsThe impacts of climate change on the environment are significant and severe. The present scientific consensus is that the earth's climate is warming due to human activity, and the negative impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions are measurable globally and nationally.[3]
Australia’s climate has warmed on average by 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910, which has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events.[4] The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO reported that there has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and in the length of the fire season, across large parts of the country since the 1950s, as evidenced by the catastrophic bushfires in the summer of 2019/2020. They also noted changes in rainfall, with decreases in the southeast and southwest of Australia as shown by the devastating drought in 2019. Oceans around Australia they stated are acidifying and have warmed by about 1°C since 1910 bringing longer and more frequent marine heatwaves. In the past 5 years there have been three major mass-bleaching events at the Great Barrier Reef resulting from these marine heatwaves, and resulting in the destruction of over half of the reef’s corals.[5] The Great Barrier Reef has an economic, social and iconic asset value estimated at $56 billion, contributes around $6.4 billion annually to the Australian economy and supports over 64,000 jobs.[6] Sea levels are also rising around Australia, increasing the risk of coastal inundation and damage to infrastructure and communities.2
The government is responsible for the environment, the health and wellbeing of its citizens, and the financial security of the nation. As we see the impact of increased carbon emissions, we also find evidence of the deleterious impact on Australian native wildlife, the Australian people and the wealth of the nation.
Emission goals and carbon budgetsTo address the issue of dangerous climate change, Australia, along with 196 other parties, is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, which entered into force on 4 November 2016. The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, by:
Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.[7]
In 2020 Australia emitted 1.1% of world greenhouse gas emissions. This made Australia the world’s 16th biggest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution, despite having just 0.33% of world population.[8] On a per capita basis. Australian emissions are the highest in the OECD and among the highest in the world. The only countries with higher per capita emissions than Australia are smaller petro-states like Kuwait, Qatar and UAE and some Small Island Developing States. [9] [10] [11]
Australia has a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Furthermore, in 2022, The Australian Government increased the ambition of its 2030 target in 2022, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 43% below 2005 levels by 2030[12] .
It should be noted that Australia’s commitment is insufficient to limit warming to 1.5C. The IPCC calculated level of GHG reductions required by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5C is a 43% GHG reduction based on 2019 emissions. Adjusting this figure for Australia’s baseline year of 2005 (a particularly high emission year) results in a required 48% reduction in emissions (below 2005 levels) required by 2030 to ensure a >50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C[13] [14]. The Climate Council and Climate Targets Panel both recommend that Australia cut its emissions 74-75% (based on 2005 levels) by 2030, and aim to reach net zero by 2035 to remain within 1.5C warming[15] [16] .
The IPCC report provides an estimate for a global remaining carbon budget of 580 GtCO2 (excluding permafrost feedbacks) based on a 50% probability of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees relative to 1850 to 1900 during and beyond this century and a remaining carbon budget of 420 GtCO2 for a 67% chance.[17]
Committed emissions from existing and proposed energy infrastructure represent more than the entire carbon budget that remains if mean warming is to be limited to 1.5 °C and perhaps two-thirds of the remaining carbon budget if mean warming is to be limited to less than 2 °C. Estimates suggest that little or no new CO2-emitting infrastructure can be commissioned, and that existing infrastructure may need to be retired early in order to meet the Paris Agreement climate goals.[18]
From Jan 2017 until 2050 Australia’s remaining emission budget for a 50% chance of warming to stay below 1.5C warming relative to pre-industrial levels was estimated to be 5.5 GTCO2e.7 Adding the GHG emissions expended from 2017 until 2022[19] [20], this leaves just 2.5 Gt CO2e remaining as at December 2022 which equates to only 4 years left at present emission rates of the 2013-2050 emission budget to stay below 1.5°C. Therefore, at current emissions rates, Australia will have exceeded its carbon budget for 2050 by 2027.
Economic risksDeloitte Access Economics noted that some of the most significant risks to Australia’s economic growth trajectory are from the physical risks associated with a changing climate and the unplanned economic transition risk from the world’s response to this changing climate.16
Their analysis showed that the Australian industries hardest hit by the Covid 19 pandemic would also be the most vulnerable to the effects of a warming world and climate change. Australia’s agriculture, construction, manufacturing, tourism related industries and mining sectors all featured consistently in the top industries exposed to the risks of covid, climate change and the unplanned economic transition as the world responds. Deloitte Access Economics estimated that by 2055 Australia will experience economic losses on par with Covid 19.16
Net Zero Emissions by 2050The IPCC stated that global emissions need to reach net zero by 2050 to be consistent to limiting warming to 1.5 °C.5 Modelling has shown that moving towards a net zero emissions economy would unlock financial prospects in sectors including manufacturing and renewables triggering a $63 billion investment boom.[21] Deloitte Access Economics estimates such a new growth recovery could grow Australia’s economy by $680 billion (present value terms) and increase GDP by 2.6% in 2070 – adding over 250,000 jobs to the Australian economy by 2070.[22]
The Australian Government has now committed to developing a 2050 Net Zero plan and 2035 emission reduction targets consistent with Australia’s international and domestic commitments.[23] However, since May 2022, 4 new coal mines or expansions were approved in Australia that will result in an additional 147 million tonnes of carbon emissions. An additional 25 additional proposals for new or expanded coal mines are currently awaiting Federal Government approval that would release over 12 billion tonnes of carbon emissions if approved.[24] The International Energy Agency (2021) stated that to achieve net zero by 2050, no new oil and gas fields can be approved for development together with no new coal mines or mine extensions.[25]
Intergenerational EquityFailing to act on climate change today will result in the costs and damages of climate change increasing over time, with these burdens being borne by future generations.[26] [27] The Principle of Equality states that all generations should bear a similar weight for the burdens of climate change, and that all generations are obligated to not violate intergenerational or intragenerational equality.[28] So future generations should not bear substantially greater burdens or responsibilities for climate change compared to previous generations, and that individuals and groups within generations ought to bear comparable burdens and responsibilities to each other.
Weiss (2008)[29] in their seminal article on the theory of intergenerational equity stated that global climate change induced by human activities “raises serious issues of justice between the present generation and future generations, and between communities within future generations”. Weiss claimed that as all generations interact with the earth, every generation needs to pass the Earth and its resources on in at least as good a condition or a better condition than it was received. Weiss proposed 3 principles of intergenerational equity, specifically that present generations conserve the diversity of natural resources for future generations, ensuring the quality of the environment is comparable between generations and generations have similar access to the earth and its resources. However, the environment is deteriorating at an increasing rate due in part to climate change, such as increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and species extinctions. Furthermore, natural resources likely impacted by climate change include land for habitation or agriculture, and fresh water sources. Nguyen (2021) noted that if we do not act to address climate change, resources over time will dwindle which will threaten the prospects of future generations having equitable access to resources as compared to present or past generations.
Weiss (2008) concluded that to fulfil our responsibility to future generations we must respect the principles of intergenerational equity and strategies to combat climate change need to reflect the principles of intergenerational equity.
Children and Climate ChangeAustralia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which recognises that children have the same human rights as adults, while also needing special protection due to their vulnerability. The guiding principles of the CRC includes putting the best interests of the child first in all decisions that affect them. The Committee on the Rights of Children, that monitors implementation of the CRC, recently emphasised the urgent need to address the adverse effects of climate change on children’s rights and that “Governments should consider children’s rights in all decisions made about climate change and consider climate change in all decisions being made about children”[30] .
Children are especially vulnerable and will suffer disproportionately to the effects of climate change. They have little say in climate policy decisions that will contribute to future climate impacts and have little or no control over the environment that they will inherit. Children are already experiencing the impacts of climate change through climate change fueled climate and environmental hazards, impacting on their current and future wellbeing. UNICEF stated that approximately 1 billion children are at an “extremely high risk” of the impacts of climate change.[31]
Those that have contributed the least to climate change, children, those in poverty, and future generations are the most affected. Save the Children stated that due to climate change:
- The education of around 38 million children is disrupted each year,
- Almost 160 million children are exposed to increasingly severe and prolonged droughts,
- 90% of diseases resulting from climate change are likely to affect children under the age of five,
- By 2040, it is estimated that one in four children will be living in areas with extreme water shortages, and
- By 2050, a further 24 million children are projected to be undernourished,[32]
This BillCLEANaS supports the passing of this Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity bill.
Currently, Australian legislation is ill-equipped to address the human rights impacts of climate change for both children and future generations. This bill establishes a clear obligation for Government Ministers and decision-makers to consider the potential impacts of climate change on future generation’s wellbeing.
In particular the bill would create a new duty of care of decision makers to consider the health and wellbeing of current and future generations when considering decisions that may worsen the effects of climate change such as commissioning new fossil fuel infrastructure (such as the Gas fired power station currently being built in Kurri Kurri here in the Hunter Valley that will be incapable of running on more than 30% hydrogen even with additional investment[33]) or the approval of new fossil fuel mines or mine extensions (such as the Mount Pleasant Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley that will result in 876 million tonnes of emissions).
Furthermore, the bill would prohibit decisions that would lead to levels of emissions that pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of children and would promote intergenerational equity within government decision making.
As additional emissions result in greater impacts of climate change no matter where they are created (in Australia or Overseas), the impact of this proposed legislation on a decision to approve a fossil fuel project would not depend on location of the infrastructure or where the emissions are created. This would also include decisions on public funding and loans for fossil fuel infrastructure projects. The decision maker would also need to take into consideration if the emissions resulting from such a decision would impact on Australia’s emission reduction targets.
CLEANaS strongly supports imposing a duty of care on decision-makers to consider the health and well-being of current and future children in Australia when making administrative decisions that contribute to climate change and urges the Commonwealth Government to support the Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity bill.
Thank you for considering our submission,
Sincerely,
Alec Roberts
CLEANaS Chair on behalf of CLEANaS
[1] IEA. (2021). Net Zero by 2050. A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
[2] http://www.cleanas.org.au/
[3] NASA (n.d.) Scientific Consensus: Earth's Climate is Warming. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
[4] BOM (2022) State of the Climate 2022. Retrieved from http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/2022/documents/2022-state-of-the-climate-web.pdf
[5] Readfearn, G. (2020, April 7). Great Barrier Reef's third mass bleaching in five years the most widespread yet. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/07/great-barrier-reefs-third-mass-bleaching-in-five-years-the-most-widespread-ever
[6] Deloitte Access Economics (2017, June 23). At what price? The economic, social and icon value of the Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved from https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/the-value
[7] IPCC (2018). Global Warming of 1.5°C: An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
[8] World Population Review. (2023). CO₂ Emissions by Country 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/co2-emissions-by-country
[9] Swann, T. (2019, July). High Carbon from a Land Down Under: Quantifying CO2 from Australia’s fossil fuel mining and exports. Retrieved from https://www.tai.org.au/sites/default/files/P667%20High%20Carbon%20from%20a%20Land%20Down%20Under%20%5BWEB%5D_0_0.pdf
[10] Ritchie, H. (2019, October 4). Where in the world do people emit the most CO2? Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/per-capita-co2
[11] Statistica. (2023). Per capita carbon dioxide emissions worldwide in 2021, by country. Retrieved 23 November 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/270508/co2-emissions-per-capita-by-country/
[12] Australian Government. (2022). Australia’s Nationally Determined Contribution: Communication 2022. UNFCCC Nationally Determined Contributions Registry. Retrieved 24 March 2023, from https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/Australias%20NDC%20June%202022%20Update%20%283%29.pdf
[13] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2023). Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
[14] Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2008). 4613.0 - Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends 2007. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 25 March 2023, from
[15] Climate Council (2022) Labor’s 2030 emissions targets must aim higher and go faster. Retrieved 4 June 2023, from https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/labors-2030-emissions-targets-must-aim-higher/
[16] Climate Targets Panel (2021) Australia’s Paris Agreement Pathways: Updating the Climate Change Authority’s 2014 Emissions Reduction Targets. Retrieved 4 June 2023, from https://www.climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/files/site1/docs/%5Bmi7%3Ami7uid%5D/ClimateTargetsPanelReport.pdf
[17] Meinshausen, M. (2019, March 19). Deriving a global 2013-2050 emission budget to stay below 1.5°C based on the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C. Retrieved from https://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/421704/Deriving-a-1.5C-emissions-budget-for-Victoria.pdf
[18] Tong, D., Zhang, Q., Zheng, Y., Caldeira, K., Shearer, C., Hong, C., Qin, Y., & Davis, S. J. (2019). Committed emissions from existing energy infrastructure jeopardize 1.5 °C climate target. Nature, 572(7769), 373-377. https://doi-org.ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au/10.1038/s41586-019-1364-3
[19] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). (n.d.). Australia's National Greenhouse Accounts: Paris Agreement inventory. Retrieved 19 Nov 2023 from https://greenhouseaccounts.climatechange.gov.au/
[20] 2022 Snapshot emissions profile – Ironbark Sustainability and Beyond Zero Emissions.
[21] Cox, L. (2020, Oct 12). Net zero emissions target for Australia could launch $63bn investment boom. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/12/net-zero-emissions-target-for-australia-could-launch-63bn-investment-boom
[22] Deloitte Access Economics (2020, November) A new choice: Australia’s climate for growth. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-dae-new-choice-climate-growth-051120.pdf?nc=1
[23] Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). (2023). Net Zero, Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the
Environment and Water. Retrieved 23
November 2023, from https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/emissions-reduction/net-zero
[24] The Australia Institute. (n.d). Project Coal Mine Tracker. Retrieved 23 November 2023 from https://australiainstitute.org.au/initiative/coal-mine-tracker/
[25] IEA. (2021). Net Zero by 2050. A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
[26] Gardiner, S. (2001) The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change: A Perfect Moral Storm. Oxford University Press, p. 143.
[27] Nguyen, J.M. (2021). Cosmopolitan Intergenerational Justice and Climate Change. [PhD thesis, University of California, Irvine]. eScholarship. https://escholarship.org/content/qt2h50d7p0/qt2h50d7p0.pdf?t=r052rd
[28] Schuppert, F. (2011) Climate Change Mitigation and Intergenerational Justice. Environmental Politics. Vol 20, No.3.. p. 307.
[29] Weiss, E.B. (2008). Climate Change, Intergenerational Equity and International Law. Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2637&context=facpub
[30] Committee on the Rights of the Child (2023). CRC/C/GC/26: General comment No. 26 (2023) on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change. Retrieved 123 November 2023 from https://www.ohchr.org/en/events/events/2023/launch-general-comment-no-26-2023-childrens-rights-and-environment-special-focus
[31] UNICEF. (2021). The impacts of climate change put almost every child at risk. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/stories/impacts-climate-change-put-almost-every-child-risk
[32] Save the Children. (n.d.). The Climate Crisis: Climate Change Is a Grave Threat to Children’s Survival. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/emergency-response/climate-change
[33] Snowy Hydro. (n.d.) Hunter Power Project. Retrieved from https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/hunter-power-project/
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