Climate Change and the Environment
Climate Change and the Environment
Climate Change
Bold new targets
One of Labor’s first acts in Government was legislating the Climate Change Act 2022, which enshrined our climate targets in law ...
- Net Zero by 2050
- 82% renewables by 2030
Our progress so far
- Approved enough renewable energy projects to power over 3 million homes
- Transitioned more than 25% of our energy grid to renewables
Becoming a renewable energy superpower
- The Capacity Investment Scheme will invest $65 billion to deliver an additional 32 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030
- As part of our Future Made in Australia Plan, we are investing $8 billion to kickstart Australia’s Green Hydrogen Industry
- The Rewiring the Nation program is investing $20 billion to modernise our energy grid and improve transmission infrastructure
- The Energy Industry Jobs Plan will invest $44.4 million to help transition fossil fuel industry workers, and $134.2 million for skills and employment support
Slashing emissions across transport and industry
- The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard will reduce transport emissions by more than 60% by 2030, and save motorists $95 billion in fuel costs by 2050
- The Safeguard Mechanism will require Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitters to cut their CO2 emissions or face financial penalties
The Environment
Bold New Targets
- Protecting and conserving at least 30% of Australia’s land and sea by 2030
- Achieving zero new extinctions by 2030
- Delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full and returning over 450 gigalitres of water to our natural environment
What We’ve Done So Far
- We’ve already protected an extra 40 million hectares of land and sea
- We’ve invested $262.3 million to support Commonwealth national parks and threatened species protection
- Under Labor, the Great Barrier Reef has been delisted by the World Heritage Committee as being ‘in danger’, thanks to a $1.2 billion in investment in the reef
- We’ve invested $200 million to restore natural wetlands and waterways in cities
- We’ve invested $1 billion to boost recycling capacity by over a million tonnes
Our Nature Positive Law Reforms
Labor’s first tranche of Nature Positive Law Reforms are now law.
- We’ve established the Nature Repair Market to reward landholders, conservation groups, farmers and First nations organisations for conservation work
- We’ve expanded the water trigger to allow the Minister to block unconventional gas projects which will have a significant impact on water resources
Labor’s second tranche of reforms are currently being blocked by the Coalition and the Greens in the Senate. These reforms would:
- Invest $121 million to establish Environment Protection Australia
- Invest nearly $100 million towards faster environmental approvals
- Establish a new independent Head of Environment Information Australia
The third tranche is under consultation and will:
- Repeal and replace the EPBC Act, which is woefully inadequate
- Establish a new incentive scheme for nature restoration
- Establish a new framework to protect Commonwealth reserves