Media release – Climate Tasmania and the Tasmanian Independent Science Council, 17 August 2022

Climate Tasmania and the Tasmanian Independent Science Council call for faster progress on strengthening Tasmanian climate legislation

Key points:

  • Whilst claiming leadership on the urgent issue of climate change, it has been nine months since the Tasmanian Government’s climate change bill was tabled.
  • Now the Government has tabled the bill, it must be strengthened and then enacted as a matter of urgency.
  • Climate Tasmania and the Tasmanian Independent Science Council recommends the following modifications to ensure the bill secures emission reductions and that Tasmania has the ability to adapt to change we cannot prevent:
    • A legislated target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2023 rather than 2030 as proposed (the Government argues we are already at net zero so there is no excuse for delay);
    • No new fossil fuel developments;
    • An ambitious 2030 target for emission reductions (not including forest sequestration) with increased targets for every five years after that;
    • Emission reduction and resilience plans for each sector to be completed within two years, and updated three yearly;
    • A Climate Change Commission with an independent Board to evaluate progress and provide advice, including on future targets and on adaptation to those aspects of climate change that we cannot prevent; ongoing parliamentary oversight;
    • A statutory obligation for Tasmanian decision makers to consider climate change.
    • Increased Government funding to support climate change policies.

“We congratulate the Tasmanian Government on progressing its climate change legislation,” Emeritus Professor John Church AO, FAA, FTSE, member of the Tasmanian Independent Science Council, said.

“Extreme weather events both here and around the world have made it clear that we urgently need to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change and adapt to those that we cannot change.

“In order for this legislation to secure the emission reductions, the Parliament needs to adopt critical measures recommended by Climate Tasmania and the Tasmanian Independent Science Council.

“We’ve already achieved net zero emissions in lutruwita/Tasmania. In order for this legislation to be ambitious, we need to bring forward our net zero emissions target to 2023.”

“We can’t just rely on offsets from our forests – we need to reduce absolute emissions. The climate bill should include an absolute emissions reductions target for 2030, with emissions reduction and resilience plans to be completed in the next two years.

“We need an independent body and ongoing Parliamentary oversight to evaluate progress and provide advice on further actions, to ensure that we rapidly reduce emissions and have the ability to adapt.”