Dr WOODRUFF – Minister, in the Climate Change Action Plan, you committed to developing a whole‑of‑government policy framework to embed climate change into government decision-making by mid-2024. Has that been done?
Mr DUIGAN – The action plan sets out our agenda for action on climate change through to mid-2025 and supports Tasmania’s transition to a low-emissions economy in line with our target to maintain net zero greenhouse gas emissions or lower from 2030. In addition to the delivery of the legislative measures under the Climate Change Act 2008, $14 million has already been allocated to deliver programs over two years. There are 98 actions across all areas of government, with more than 60 already underway.
Key actions include our emissions reductions and resilience plans, which are currently open for public consultation across a range of sectors, noting the transport ERRP has been released; and significant investment of more than $250 million in climate change activities across government departments, demonstrating a commitment to a coordinated whole‑of‑government response to climate change.
I will ask Mark potentially to provide some further detail.
Mr BOWLES – We are progressing the framework to build capability and embed climate change considerations into whole-of-government policy. The next steps involve analysing agency baseline information to understand current considerations for climate change in decision‑making. That includes plans, policies and strategies, and introducing education material to enable agencies to include climate change considerations into their risk assessments. I note that the climate risks report is also due this year and that will influence our thinking about how to plan ahead for climate change actions.
Mr DUIGAN – I’ll just ask the secretary to add some detail in there.
Mr LIMKIN – Dr Woodruff, I have written to each of my secretary colleagues asking them to help the department and the Climate Change Office meet this commitment. The secretaries have been asked to nominate a senior executive to sponsor this work so that we are leading from the top and that all secretaries are committed to implementing this commitment through our agencies. It’s an ongoing conversation that we have had and will continue to have to make sure we deliver on the government’s commitment.
Dr WOODRUFF – Minister, you’re progressing a framework, I’ve just heard. It was due to be completed by mid‑2024; when do you expect the framework will be in place?
Mr DUIGAN – I would ask the CEO to provide the detail of when he would expect that to occur.
Mr BOWLES – We need to ensure that we’re engaging with all of the other agencies, so that does make it difficult for us to commit to a time frame, but certainly our objective would be to have our draft work completed in the first half of next year.
Dr WOODRUFF – Okay. Because the Climate Change Action Plan was a legislated instrument, so you have overshot it and so that will be some time.
My second question is in relation to your draft Land Use Change and Forestry Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plan. It mentions as a future opportunity supporting the forestry industry to look into the use of biomass and biofuels. It doesn’t explicitly say that the native forest industry will contribute to biofuel production, but it also doesn’t state that only the plantation sector, industry or forest residues would be used. Will you confirm that it won’t include carbon‑storing native forests as part of the biomass?
Mr DUIGAN – I would be looking for advice here, potentially out of the Climate Change Office – Sarah.
Ms RUSSELL – At this point in time, we’ve identified a whole range of opportunities through our research and consultation phases. The feedback we’ve received at this time is that these will be plantation‑based residues, but it’s still being scoped at this point in time.
Dr WOODRUFF – Okay. The strategy itself is silent on this, but it’s the intention of the department to pursue biofuels that come from the plantation industry and not from the native forest industry?
Ms RUSSELL – That’s my understanding, yes. But, again, it’s a future opportunity. We’re publicly consulting on it at this point in time and we’ll work through scoping that program in more detail. It’s identified as a priority –
Dr WOODRUFF – So, the Burnie and ABEL Energy and Powerfuels in Bell Bay, those two e‑fuel facilities that are planned, are not planning – or using as part of their modelling for their business case – to rely on native forest biomass for their fuel production?
Mr DUIGAN – No, it’s my understanding that both of those e‑fuel facilities would be using plantation forest residue in the first place, so carbon that is currently not being utilised in a productive stream and plantation forest woodchip as a second stage.
