Climate Change Bill 2022 (Cth) and Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022 (Cth)
The Law Council of Australia (Law Council) thanks the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for the opportunity to make a submission to its inquiry into the Climate Change Bill 2022 (Cth) and Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022 (Cth).
This submission is informed by the Law Council’s Climate Change Policy. The Policy includes a commitment from the Law Council to advocate on federal climate change legislation on behalf of the legal profession and sets out three key principles for doing so.
The three key principles are:
(a) Australia’s international law obligations with respect to climate change should be fully implemented domestically and should represent Australia’s highest possible ambition (implementation of international law obligations);
(b) Australia’s response to climate change should give effect to rule of law principles, including that new laws in this area should promote certainty and clarity, and promote transparent outcomes (rule of law principles); and
(c) Australia’s response should be fair and equitable and should promote public confidence (a fair and equitable response).
The principles are set out in full on pages 10-11 of the Climate Change Policy.