11 February 2020 | Parliament House of Australia, Canberra, ACT
135 delegates.
25 speakers.
5 sessions.
1 day for accelerating conversation and action.
The Australian Climate Action Summit was convened at Parliament House in Canberra on 11 February 2020 by BCSD Australia in partnership with the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University (ANU). A full report on the summary will be distributed to Summit delegates and BCSD Australia members soon. A feature session of the Summit was Independent MP, Zali Steggall OAM MP, Member for Warringah, in conversation with CEO of BCSD Australia, Andrew Petersen.
Ms Steggall appeared at the Summit just days after releasing details of the Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020, which is to be tabled as a private member's bill in Australian Parliament on March 23 2020.
The bill proposes that a long-term national emissions target should be set to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The target would be reviewed every five years by an independent climate change commission (CCC), to be established to advise government and parliament. The bill would also require five-year emissions budgets to be set in advance, and five-year plans to ensure those emissions budgets are met.
The CCC would complete an annual national climate change risk assessment, reviewing changes to national and regional climates, water availability, vegetation cover and air quality, as well as possible changes to international climate and trade policies. It would identify risks across Australia's economy, society and environment, to which Australia will need to respond. The CCC would also report annually on Australia's national and sector progress against targets, the extent to which Australian adaptation and mitigation plans are being delivered, and the extent to which objectives are being met.
The proposed legislation would require the government to set five-year national adaptation plans for the nation and for nominated regional and economic sectors (such as agriculture, biodiversity, national parks, marine parks, health, energy, transport, services, education, planning, construction, infrastructure, etc). The bill also calls for principles to be set out by which Australia would engage in international climate change negotiations. Ms Steggall has called for a conscience vote when the bill is introduced.
The full bill can be viewed here: https://www.climateactnow.com.au/
Below is a gallery of some of the photographs from the Summit, which was jampacked with experts and enthusiasm for what can be achieved on climate action.