The purpose of this submission is to share research and analysis conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs (the IPA) with the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee as it conducts its inquiry into the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023 (the bill).
The bill would amend the Climate Change Act 2022 to impose a statutory duty on decision-makers to consider the health and wellbeing of children in Australia when making ‘significant decisions’, and to not make ‘significant decisions’ in relation to the exploration or extraction of coal, oil, or natural gas, if the decision poses a material risk of harm to the health and wellbeing of Australian children.
The bill would define ‘significant decisions’ as decisions made under various Acts that are ‘likely to result directly or indirectly, over the lifetime of one or more facilities, in the emission of greenhouse gases that are scope 1 emissions, scope 2 emissions or scope 3 emissions and have a carbon dioxide equivalent of at least 100,000 tonnes (gross)’.
The findings contained in this submission are based on wide-ranging analysis published in IPA research reports regarding the economic and humanitarian consequences of net zero and other related policies. Analysis of the bill by the IPA finds:
- The bill would provide overt grounds for activists to engage in lawfare to delay and cancel vital resource projects.
- The bill would undermine Australia’s energy security, which is already at risk across the National Energy Market.
- The bill would undermine Australia’s economic competitiveness.
It is on the basis of this analysis that the IPA recommends the bill be rejected.
