2018 ACCEL year in review
The Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law (ACCEL)'s 2018 Year-in-Review Conference attracted more than 60 delegates from government, industry, civil society and academia.
Prominent speakers discussed the implications of key developments in climate and environmental Law in 2017-2018. Topics included climate change and energy; mining and the environment; biodiversity; environmental planning and greener places; coastal and marine issues; and natural resources and valuing nature.
Climate change and energy
The conference began with climate change and energy, with presenters examining how under the Paris Agreement different states have attempted to meet their commitments, and focused on issues of liability and penalties; migration; and concessions the United States might demand in order not to complete its withdrawal. The focus then shifted to Australia and how the National Energy Guarantee was to operate and on whom obligations would fall, particularly in relation to transferring credits, carry-over of liabilities, and, in the future, the extent to which markets might in the end ‘overtake’ governmental planners. The session also canvassed recent litigation efforts in various countries to hold governments accountable for climate change-related failings.
Mining and the environment
The following session moved onto mining and the environment, examining puzzling legal aspects of recent judgments relevant to the ongoing ‘Adani litigation’, and identifing various inconsistencies, for example, determining the point in the proceedings at which the Minister ought to have considered ‘Scope 3’ emissions.
Biodiversity
The environmental impact on Australia’s biodiversity was also addressed. Australia’s biodiversity conservation laws must respond to the way barriers between native and exotic species are beginning to break down in the face of range shifts and also how species are beginning to redistribute under climate-driven pressures. The new Biodiversity Conservation Act is to do away with previous problematic ‘regulatory silos’, and be able to respond to such shifts.
Environmental planning and greener spaces
Shifting to the built environment, a session on environmental planning and greener spaces focused on recent governance and managerial moves toward promoting the values of well-designed built environments and considered what measures can be used to implement ‘green’ strategies in cities such as Sydney. Key aspects of the recent Environmental Planning and Assessment Act reforms were also examined and included changes to community participation, strategic planning and decision making.
Coastal and marine issues
Key speakers on coastal and marine issues examined the serious and worsening problem of plastic waste in the marine environment and how a possible international agreement for regulation of marine plastic might be crafted. The session shifted to the current status of the Great Barrier Reef, which is exposed to threats from invasive species, overfishing and climate change-related coral bleaching. The legal aspects focused on what really is meant by ‘marine reserves’ and whether these can be effective where they do not also include ‘no take’ zones.
Natural resources and valuing nature
The final session on natural resources and valuing nature provided insight into recent legislative, political and community-oriented events in the Murray-Darling Basin. The session included a case study on the potential significance of the recent judgment (Costa Rica v Nicaragua, 2018) by the International Court of Justice on calculating compensation for environmental damage – the first such judgment by this court. While the judgment does not bind states generally, it is likely that it will provide a significant precedent in the years to come when national governments regulate issues such as ‘biodiversity offsetting’ and courts wrestle with how to calculate appropriate compensation for environmental damage.
View the ACCEL 2018 Year-in-Review conference program here.
Conference papers
- Rosemary Lyster, Professor of Climate and Environmental Law, The University of Sydney Law School - Paris Update (Rulebook and climate displacement)
- Graeme Dennis, HWL Ebsworth, Developments in relation of the National Energy Guarantee and legal issues related to new forms of generation
- Danny Noonan, Climate Law Fellow, Our Children’s Trust, Climate Litigation 2017-18
- Ashley Stafford, Barrister, 11th Floor St James Hall Chambers, Adani litigation (ACF)
- Elaine Johnson, Principal Solicitor, EDO NSW, Groundswell Glouchester v Glouchester Resources and ACA v NSW Minister for Planning & Wyong Coal
- Phillipa McCormack, Lecturer, University of Tasmania, Legal Frameworks for Biodiversity Conservation and Natural Resource Management
- Guy Dwyer, Senior Associate, Ashurst, Intersections between the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
- Jane Threlfall and Barbara Schaffer, Government Architect NSW, Greener Places: Establishing an Urban Green Infrastructure Policy for New South Wales
- Breellen Warry, Partner, Holding Redlich, 2017 Reforms to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 2017 (NSW)
- Tim Stephens, Professor of International Law, The University of Sydney, Marine Plastic Pollution
- David Booth, Professor of Marine Ecology, The University of Technology Sydney, Great Barrier Reef - marine parks and draft management plans
- Emma Carmody, Senior Policy and Law Reform Solicitor, EDO NSW, Murray-Darling Basin update
- Ed Couzens, Associate Professor, The University of Sydney Law School, Damages for environmental harm, valuing nature, and the Certain Activities case
