Wednesday, 31 July 2024

Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Victoria

Strategic Audit 2022–23: Implementation of Environmental Management Systems by Agencies and Public Authorities

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (17:22): I rise today to speak on the Strategic Audit 2022–23: Implementation of Environmental Management Systems by Agencies and Public Authorities, submitted to this place by the commissioner for environmental sustainability and tabled earlier this year on 20 March. Over the last few months we have seen Europe experience some of the hottest heatwaves ever. We have also seen the hottest average surface temperature in modern history since the statistic was first recorded in 1940. The earth has experienced its warmest day in recent history, according to Copernicus Climate Change Service data, and on 22 July 2024 the daily global average temperature reached a new record high of 17.16 degrees Celsius. This exceeds the previous record of 17.09 degrees Celsius set just a day earlier, and a year earlier that number was 17.08. So there you go; it is quite a considerable jump in such a short period of time.

The Strategic Audit 2022–23 report has found that in order for Victoria to achieve the target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions as well as the interim greenhouse gas emission reduction targets it is important that Victorian government departments make considerable progress to reduce net GHG emissions from their operations, and significantly reducing emissions from the energy sector is critical to achieving this.

I think I have been particularly interested in some of the work coming out recently from the Climate Council, and they have found that the overwhelming majority of Australians have been directly affected by at least one climate-fuelled disaster since 2019, spanning heatwaves, floods, bushfires, droughts, destructive storms and landslides. I am sure we can all think about an example in our community in the not-so-distant past. The truth is the climate is changing for the worse, and those on this side of the place understand that. We have continued to make changes to try and combat the very worst of its effects and to combat the change itself. In the last three years Victoria’s population and economy have grown while emissions have declined. Victoria’s emissions have declined by 27.6 per cent between 1990 and 2021 while the economy has in fact grown by 126 per cent and our population has increased by 49.5 per cent, as more Victorians become Victorian. Our per capita emissions in 2021, a measure of the state’s total net emissions divided by its population, were well below the national average, and this smashed our initial reduction target of 15 per cent by 2020. We have cut our net emissions by almost a third since 2005. This is not really about doing what is popular or what is easy. This is about continuing to do what is right by the people to deliver on climate action solutions and drive down energy prices and emissions for Victoria and Victorians to safeguard their future and the future of many generations to come.

I hold that there is more work to be done. We acknowledge that, so we are getting on with it. That is why we are not sitting back and we are not growing complacent. We are still driving real change, still listening to experts, still pushing for industry reform and still driving down Victorian emissions. This sector is not a set and forget. It is really important to note that. We are getting on with the hard work in the lead-up to our 2045 emissions target. This government remains committed to ensuring that we reach net zero by 2045. It is no longer a nice to do. As the statistics said before, this now is a must do.