The Tasmanian Government is in breach of its obligations under the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008.
Despite a legislative requirement to ‘reduce greenhouse gas emissions’, the government has not acted, relying instead on the net-zero status the State can claim as a result of avoided logging and burning under the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.
The TFA saw Tasmania’s greenhouse accounts improve markedly from 2012, but progress has stalled and emissions are not falling across any sector of the economy.
Adaptation planning to keep Tasmanians safe as global heating impacts worsen is also lagging.
There is, for example, no evacuation plan for Nipaluna/Hobart – the most bushfire prone capital city in the country.
All our communities are at risk in the future. Adaptation planning and resourcing is a moral responsibility on government which it is currently failing.
Submissions to a much-delayed review of the Act close tomorrow, Sunday 7 September.
In the Greens’ submission we call for government to comply with, and strengthen, a piece of legislation which is almost twenty years old and simply not delivering either emissions reduction or effective adaptation. Both need to be addressed as a priority.
We’ve called for the reinstatement of a dedicated Minister for Climate Change so there’s a clear, committed focus on the greatest challenge we’ll ever face as an island people.
There also needs to be emissions’ reduction targets for all sectors, including transport, agriculture, energy and land use. This should be coupled with government support to help with transition and accountability to the Parliament for any government failure to meet targets.
A forest carbon update report released by Dr Jen Sanger on behalf of the Climate Collective just this week confirms native forest logging and burning continues to be the State’s biggest emitter, spewing an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year.
If native forest felling and burning was ended, an extra 75 million tonnes of carbon could be captured by our forests by 2030. What a gift that would be to the planet and future generations.
It’s well past time the Tasmanian Government got serious about real climate action. Young Tasmanians are yearning for leadership and watching closely.
This could be Jeremy Rockliff’s most lasting legacy, if he has the courage to act. The Greens are here to help him any way we can!
The Greens submission can be found here.
Tasmania’s greenhouse emissions profile below
