Greens “climate trigger” bill faces tough crowd in parliament, but gets billionaire backing

The Greens’ battle to stop any new coal and gas projects from being developed in Australia begins in earnest this week with the tabling of the party’s “Climate Trigger” bill in both houses of federal parliament.

The proposed bill aims to plug a hole in federal environment laws that currently allows the approval of new fossil fuel developments without factoring in future climate impacts, including in terms of emissions.

The bill also provides an avenue for the Greens to continue its fight to bring Australia up to the Paris standard on climate action, while also supporting Labor’s Climate Bill, which is expected to be passed into law this week.

The Albanese government, having boosted Australia’s emissions and renewable energy targets via its Climate Bill, has stopped short of ruling out new coal and gas projects, instead committing to approve any that meet environmental standards.

But even the International Energy Association agrees that for the world to meet its most important environmental standard – the prevention of global warming beyond 1.5°C – there can be no new fossil fuel projects developed, at all.

“The climate wars will not end this week with the passage of Labor’s Climate Bill so long as they keep approving new coal and gas,” said Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young, who will table the bill in the Senate.

“There are 114 new coal and gas projects headed to the environment minister’s desk for approval – not a single one should be approved without considering the impact its emissions will have on the climate.”

And while Labor is unlikely to support the Climate Trigger bill – and it goes without saying that the majority of the Coalition will reject it – it has the unqualified support of Australia’s richest man.

Billionaire mining magnate and chair of Fortescue Metals, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, Australia’s richest man according to media lists, this week once again reiterated his view that banning new coal and gas is the “only responsible thing to do” in a carbon constrained world.

“If you know anything about economics and environmental science, as global warming is set upon us decades earlier than we expected, it is the only responsible thing to do,” he told The Australian in an interview.

“The impact of global warming is not 2050, it is actually right now.”

Forrest says a ban on new gas and coal projects will also encourage industry to quickly shift towards mining minerals and developing products that will underpin a net-zero world – a shift in which Forrest has a major commercial interest, via his green hydrogen-focused focused Fortescue Future Industries.

“The world (once) needed enormous amounts of iron ore and coal; it now needs enormous amounts of green energy,” he told The Australian.

In parliament, supporters of the Greens’ Climate Trigger Bill will include all of the so-called “Teal” Independents, such as Sophie Scamps, the independent candidate who won the traditionally Liberal-held seat of Mackellar in the May election.

“I find it hard to believe that our national environmental law does not compel the environment minister to consider future climate impacts when assessing major projects,” Scamps said in a statement of support for the Greens’ bill on Monday.

“It is even harder to believe that new coal and gas projects are being assessed and approved without any consideration given to the future impact that emissions from these projects will have on our environment and on our nation.

“The Albanese government cannot have it both ways. They cannot say the climate wars ‘are over’
and legislate our emissions reduction targets while also refusing to act on the root cause of climate change – fossil fuels.”