Australia proposes new law on climate reporting

February 5th, 2024

The Australian government has proposed a new law to establish a climate risk disclosure framework, introducing new reporting requirements for companies.

The draft legislation amends the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act 2001 and the Corporations Act 2001 to introduce standardised climate-related reporting requirements.

The proposals aim to help Australia take advantage of the economic opportunities of cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy, while helping it manage climate change risks by ensuring businesses are making high-quality climate-related financial disclosures.

The Treasury department also said the proposed changes would give investors and companies the transparency, clarity and certainty they needed to make informed decisions investing in new opportunities as part of the net zero transformation.

The draft legislation will give companies the chance to expand their capacity to make high-quality climate risk disclosures as it provides them with early visibility of the proposed reporting requirements.

The proposed rules also include measures to expand the breadth of entities required to report over time.

Consultation for the draft legislation released is now open and submissions will close on 9 February 2024.

In September, the Australian government agreed to publish a statement on the Department of Treasury’s website flagging that climate change represents a significant risk for the Australian economy in a landmark settlement.

Climate Action 100+ found in October that many heavy emitting Australian companies are not doing enough to meet short-term net zero targets, despite steady progress in the making of commitments and disclosure.