5 days ago
Climate authority chair Matt Kean to be handed new powers Productivity Commission says
Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean will be an enforcer who decides if businesses and government are doing enough to prepare for the effects of climate change, under a proposal to accelerate the green energy transition.
As part of its push to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the federal government has also been advised to establish an independent Clean Energy Co-ordinator-General to expedite approval for new renewable energy projects by tracking the progress of applications and removing roadblocks.
A sweeping Productivity Commission report has urged the government to hand the climate watchdog greater powers to monitor the nation's progress in adapting to climate change to improve accountability.
The proposal would place Mr Kean, a former Liberal MP, in charge of reviewing the government's progress on adoption policy every two years, with the report citing the authority's 'arm's length' relationship to government as its key strength.
'Appraisal of adaptation policies and progress against measures of climate resilience would aid the design of more effective policy, especially by state and territory governments, who control many levers, such as planning regimes, that impact climate resilience,' the report states.
'Measuring climate resilience could help the Australian government drive efficient investment in adaptation, including through existing or new national agreements.
'Public reporting of review findings would hold governments to account for adaptation policy.'
Anthony Albanese appointed Mr Kean, who was a NSW energy minister under Coalition premier Gladys Berejiklian, to lead the Climate Change Authority in June last year in a controversial move.
While the Prime Minister declared Mr Kean was 'uniquely qualified' for the position, the former moderate Liberal's appointment sparked accusations of treachery within the Coalition.
Climate policy has become a point of tension for the federal Coalition, with conservative backbenchers pushing new leader Sussan Ley to drop the opposition's commitment to net zero as part of a post-election review of its policy platform.
The interim report, the second in a series of five, also recommends introducing a new Clean Energy Co-ordinator-General to work with regulators and decision-making bodies to oversee approvals for green energy projects.
The Co-ordinator-General's responsibilities would include tracking the passage of priority projects through the approvals process and report on their progress to relevant ministers and the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council.
When applications hit blockages, the Co-ordinator-General would also be empowered to 'escalate' the issue to the relevant department secretaries or ministers to resolve the roadblock and recommend improvements to prevent future delays.
The new position would also be granted powers to prioritise which projects were prioritised on a national list, based on their importance to the energy transition. Under the current settings, each state is allocated five generation and storage projects with one for each territory, meaning the list 'includes some relatively small projects and potentially omits some larger ones'. Read related topics: Climate Change Defence
The Albanese government says it is turning around Defence's workforce crisis, adding nearly 2000 personnel to the ADF in the past 12 months. Nation
Without action, the cost of climate change-associated risks on housing will balloon from $9bn a year to $35bn a year by 2050, the Productivity Commission's interim report on the transition to net zero emissions by 2050 reads.
