Putting climate at the heart of our national environment law
Australia’s national environment law – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 – is fundamentally broken. It ignores the impact of climate pollution on our precious natural environment, even though climate change is pushing many species, habitats and natural icons like the Great Barrier Reef to the brink.
Since this law was introduced in 1999, it has waved through more than 740 polluting coal, oil and gas projects across the country.
In a time when Australia’s environment and communities face escalating threats like more ferocious bushfires, damaging floods, extreme heat and prolonged droughts, we need to urgently fix this gap.
Join us in fighting to fix Australia’s national environment law, because nature needs us now.
CTA
We recently delivered our petition, calling for stronger nature laws and an end to fossil fuel project approvals under our current law directly to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Find out more and watch the video with our friends at Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action.
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Protecting a safe and liveable climate should be at the heart of Australia’s national environment law. This law needs to be set up to say a clear yes to responsibly-delivered clean energy and industry projects, and a strong no to polluting fossil fuel projects that will cause more climate harm.
Back in 2022, the Albanese Government promised to fix this law with their ‘Nature Positive Plan’. But years of talk haven’t delivered real action. Glaciers are literally melting while these reforms move forward at a glacial pace.
What’s the latest?
In June 2024 the Albanese Government introduced a bill to Parliament to create a new regulator, Environmental Protection Australia, that can assess projects for their impact on our environment and make sure big corporations aren’t breaking the law by damaging nature. But at the same time, the government delayed its other promised reforms to our national environment law, kicking these off into the long grass after the next federal election.
We can’t – and won’t – let them get away with it. Climate Council has given the Australian Parliament a step-by-step plan on how to fix our national environment law now to protect nature from climate change. We’ve been speaking out in the media to hold the government to account; working with powerful partners like Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action to collect over 11,000 signatures confirming the community’s support for putting climate in this law; and taking this call to Parliament through dozens of MP meetings. We’ll take this fight all the way to the next federal election and beyond if we have to, because what could be more important than handing on a healthy, thriving environment to our kids?
Core Research
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Recent wins
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