{"id":170616,"date":"2025-11-27T09:02:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T22:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatecouncil.org.au\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=170616"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:38:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T02:38:39","slug":"nature-protected-in-law-but-climate-liability-for-alp-remains","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.climatecouncil.org.au\/resources\/nature-protected-in-law-but-climate-liability-for-alp-remains\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature protected in law, but climate liability for ALP remains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>THE CLIMATE COUNCIL<\/strong> congratulates Labor and the Greens for passing laws that strengthen protection for native forests and accelerate environmentally responsible renewable power. But the Council warns the Albanese Government is failing the climate test by giving new coal and gas projects a free pass on climate pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said<\/strong>: \u201cThis deal strengthens protections for our native forests, and provides a faster yes to responsible renewable energy projects that cut climate pollution. That will help protect communities from rising power prices and climate damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut this 2025 law fails the climate test. All new coal and gas projects still get a free pass on climate pollution. In fact, the law prohibits the Environment Minister from considering a project\u2019s climate pollution when assessing whether it should go ahead. That is a gaping hole in a law that should protect nature from the ravages of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: the ALP has a growing fossil fuel problem. While voters expect the Government to deal with pollution from coal and gas, the Government is turning a blind eye to billions of tonnes of pollution that more fossil fuel approvals will add to this problem. This is a political liability that isn\u2019t going away &#8211; and many voters are planning to mark them down over it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New <a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatecouncil.org.au\/resources\/polling-labor-climate-deal-coalition\/\">national polling from YouGov<\/a>, conducted for the Climate Council, shows seven in 10 voters wanted the Government to address climate change in the new environment law, and 44 percent of 2025 Labor voters said they would be <em>less likely<\/em> to vote for the Government again if climate change was left out of this law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Climate Councillor Professor Tim Flannery said<\/strong>: \u201cThe Greens and Labor have been able to secure real wins, including better protection for native forests and a clearer path for renewable energy. That shows Parliament can work across the aisle to find solutions for the community, rather than get bogged down in politicking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Greens have blocked fast tracking of coal and gas which would have been a disastrous outcome &#8211; equivalent to pouring petrol on a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut the job\u2019s far from done. In the assessment pipeline sit 42 coal and gas projects that could release 8.7 million more tonnes of pollution yearly in Australia, undermining our climate targets, and progress.<br><br>\u201cUntil we better regulate fossil fuel projects, one fifth of Australia\u2019s climate pollution, a safer future for us and our kids will fall further out of reach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Analysis: What our new Environment Laws mean for climate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td colspan=\"2\"><strong>Key inclusions<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Labor\u2019s initial bill<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Greens\/Labor negotiated outcome<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td colspan=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"><strong>Accelerate critical projects like responsible renewables, not polluting ones<\/strong><\/td><td>\u2705 Measures to streamline project approvals<\/td><td>\u2705 Measures to streamline project approvals<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u274c Could also speed up fossil fuel approvals.<\/td><td>\u2705 Fossil fuel projects blocked from fast-track.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u274c Allows the coal and gas \u201cwater trigger\u201d to be delegated to states.<\/td><td>\u2705 No changes to the water trigger.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td colspan=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"><strong>Measure and manage climate pollution in approvals<\/strong><\/td><td>\ud83d\udfe1Direct emissions (scope 1 &amp; 2) must be disclosed, but aren\u2019t verified<\/td><td>\ud83d\udfe1 Direct emissions (scope 1 &amp; 2) must be disclosed, but aren\u2019t verified<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u274c Full emissions (scope 3) not disclosed.<\/td><td>\u274c Full emissions (scope 3) not disclosed.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u203c\ufe0f Climate pollution never considered in decisions, so coal and gas projects can be approved unchecked.<\/td><td>\u203c\ufe0f Climate pollution never considered in decisions, so coal and gas projects can be approved unchecked.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td colspan=\"2\" rowspan=\"2\"><strong>End land clearing and native forest logging loopholes to protect important carbon sinks<\/strong><\/td><td>\u274c Native logging allowed without assessment.<\/td><td>\u2705 Closes native forest logging loopholes within 18 months.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u274c Loopholes allow continuing land clearing without assessment.<\/td><td>\u2705 Exemptions for high-risk land clearing will end.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ENDS&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For interviews please contact the Climate Council media team on <\/strong><a href=\"mailto:media@climatecouncil.org.au\"><strong>media@climatecouncil.org.au<\/strong><\/a><strong> or call 0485 863 063.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Climate Council is an independent, community-funded organisation. We provide evidence-based information on climate change impacts and solutions to journalists, policymakers, and the wider Australian community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further information, go to: <a href=\"http:\/\/climatecouncil.org.au\/\">climatecouncil.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or follow us on social media: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/climate-council\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/climatecouncil\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/climatecouncil\">X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE CLIMATE COUNCIL congratulates Labor and the Greens for passing laws that strengthen protection for native forests and accelerate environmentally responsible renewable power. But the Council warns the Albanese Government is failing the climate test by giving new coal and gas projects a free pass on climate pollution. Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: \u201cThis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":164674,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[29,36],"tags":[],"resource-type":[23],"coauthors":[69],"class_list":["post-170616","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-climate-politics","resource-type-media-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nature protected in law, but climate liability for ALP remains | Climate Council<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Until we better regulate fossil fuel projects, a safer future for us and our kids will fall further out of reach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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