Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

The Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill builds on the foundation of the main Climate Change Bill, contributing to Australia's climate response and supporting net zero.

Meeting the climate challenge and realizing the opportunities presented by the transition to net zero will require coordinated efforts across government and the economy. Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reductions are supported by a range of government entities and schemes.

The Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022 complements the Climate Change Bill by embedding consideration of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets into the objects and functions of the Commonwealth entities and schemes that could make the greatest contribution to reducing emissions for Australia.

These entities include the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which facilitates flows of finance into the clean energy sector; the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, known as ARENA, which encourages the uptake of renewables by providing financial assistance and investment in renewable energy technologies; and the CSIRO, undertaking invaluable research underpinning emissions reduction efforts and clean energy technologies.

The legislation for Infrastructure Australia, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and Export Finance Australia is amended to make the targets relevant to key functions, such as Infrastructure Australia's audits and infrastructure plans.

The bill updates references to international climate agreements, within the amended legislation, to reflect the adoption of the Paris Agreement. This includes referencing the purposes in article 2 of the Paris Agreement as a key consideration for the Climate Change Authority when performing its functions.

The Climate Change Bill is the bedrock foundation on which Australian climate change policy will be built. This bill will be one the first bricks laid on top of that foundation, but it won't be the last. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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