FIRST STEPS ON CLIMATE IS PROGRESS
THE passage of the Climate Change Bill 2022 through the House of Representatives is a milestone in Australia’s tumultuous response to what many have described as the single most pressing crisis of our time.
The bill enshrines in law a policy of reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. The intention of the legislation is to contribute to an international effort to limit global warming to 1.5C.
Climate change is no longer a matter for debate. The evidence for a trend stretching back decades has long been beyond doubt. The arguments against the overwhelming scientific consensus have been debunked time and time again. Around the world we have seen temperatures on a rising trend year after year, driving events from hurricanes to fires to floods, the melting of glaciers and icecaps and the transformation of ancient ecosystems. Last month’s record heatwaves in Europe are the latest troubling manifestation.
Australia’s response to this crisis to date has not been illustrious. From the failure to advance the carbon pollution reduction scheme in 2009 to the repeal of the carbon tax in 2014, this nation has failed to show leadership, largely due to a rearguard action fought on behalf of fossil fuel interests by sections of the Liberal and National parties – which continued this week.
Tasmania has a prouder record, having achieved net zero some years ago. Individual councils – most recently in the Derwent Valley – have declared “climate emergencies” and communities and individuals have taken their own action to reduce their carbon footprints. As a nation, we lead the world in the take-up of rooftop solar power, for example.
There are some who decry such efforts as purely symbolic, or too little to make a substantial difference and who point out that Australia plays but a small role in global emissions. It is an argument that could be used to dissuade any of our endeavours on the global stage, one that we have not allowed to blunt bold ambitions in fields from foreign policy to sport.
Many have pointed out that the federal Labor’s legislation is far from perfect, but we are at least now walking in the right direction. There is arguably a mandate for further and more decisive action. And there remain difficult discussions to be had about the future of coal mining and gas extraction and electricity generation that need advancing.
We may have surrendered the chance to take a leadership role in this global crisis, but it is not too late.
Our nation is now on the right path, but the hesitancy of a decade or more means that this walk may soon need to become a run.