Damning environmental scorecard as NSW abandons old Net Zero Plan
NSW is on track to miss greenhouse gas targets, its inland rivers are dying, land clearing is rampant, and the number of threatened species has increased, according to a damning new report card on the state's environmental performance.
The Minns government will scrap the Net Zero Plan it inherited from the Coalition and write a new one to meet legally mandated reductions of 50 per cent by 2030, 70 per cent by 2035 and net zero by 2050. At present, it is expected to meet 46 per cent in 2030 and 62 per cent in 2035, according to the Net Zero Emissions Dashboard updated on Thursday.
The 2035 outlook is now worse than it was a year ago when the NSW government first revealed it was on track to miss the targets.
Minister for Climate Change and Environment Penny Sharpe said the new Net Zero Plan would take a sector-by-sector approach to decarbonisation, with input from all relevant portfolio ministers for the first time.
'The previous Net Zero Plan was done in 2020 and the numbers that were used were best-case scenario. A lot has changed since then,' Sharpe said. 'Our new plan will take in the latest information and help us reach the targets that the Minns government enshrined in law.'
In parliament on Thursday, Sharpe tabled the NSW Environment Protection Authority's statutory State of the Environment report, which comes out every three years, and also the whole-of-government response to the Net Zero Commission's first annual report released in November 2024.
The 676-page State of the Environment report reveals a devastating decline since the last report in 2021, and the capacity of NSW ecosystems to sustain life has been slashed to 29 per cent of its natural level since colonisation.
Eighteen species of animals were added to the threatened species list since 2021, and 18 species of plants since 2020. The population and distribution of native mammals, birds and fish, and the impact of invasive species were all moderate to poor and getting worse. Without effective management, only half of the 657 plant species and half of the 991 land animal species listed as threatened are predicted to survive in 100 years' time, the report says.
'The government does not shy away from the grim reports on the environment,' Sharpe said. 'I am focused on turning this around. Action on the energy transition, biodiversity and law reform to better protect the environment is under way. Turning the dial will take time and we are honest about that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
35 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Demonstrate leadership': Labor under pressure to respond to drug summit
The Minns government is being urged to move faster on overhauling drug policy in NSW, with MPs from across the political spectrum backing cannabis law reform and peak welfare groups calling for Labor to implement recommendations from the NSW 2024 Drug Summit. After last week's budget failed to include funding aimed at addressing the 56 recommendations from the summit, a coalition of peak services including NCOSS and the Wayside Chapel have urged Labor to 'demonstrate leadership' and push ahead with drug reform. 'The families and communities impacted by this issue across NSW have waited too long for change,' the joint statement, which was also signed by Uniting, the Salvation Army, Wesley Mission and the St Vincent de Paul Society read. 'We see the ongoing impact that stigma has on people who use drugs and experience drug dependency and the difficulty in accessing support.' It has been almost three months since the co-chairs of the drug summit, Carmel Tebbutt and John Brogden, handed the government its final report including 56 recommendations, among them calls for Labor to 'significantly increase' funding for drug and alcohol services. Loading While the summit stopped short of recommending decriminalisation, it called for changes ranging from the introduction of a medical defence for driving while using medically prescribed cannabis, to cutting penalties for minor drug possession. The government has yet to respond to the summit's recommendations, but in a statement, Health Minister Ryan Park said it would do so 'in the next six months as requested by the co-chairs'. Park said the government had moved to introduce a pill testing trial in the interim, and that it had announced a $235 million package for drug and alcohol services before the summit. 'The funding is focused on meeting the unique needs of priority population groups including Aboriginal people, pregnant women, people with mental health conditions, young people and people involved in the criminal justice system,' he said.
The Age
40 minutes ago
- The Age
‘Demonstrate leadership': Labor under pressure to respond to drug summit
The Minns government is being urged to move faster on overhauling drug policy in NSW, with MPs from across the political spectrum backing cannabis law reform and peak welfare groups calling for Labor to implement recommendations from the NSW 2024 Drug Summit. After last week's budget failed to include funding aimed at addressing the 56 recommendations from the summit, a coalition of peak services including NCOSS and the Wayside Chapel have urged Labor to 'demonstrate leadership' and push ahead with drug reform. 'The families and communities impacted by this issue across NSW have waited too long for change,' the joint statement, which was also signed by Uniting, the Salvation Army, Wesley Mission and the St Vincent de Paul Society read. 'We see the ongoing impact that stigma has on people who use drugs and experience drug dependency and the difficulty in accessing support.' It has been almost three months since the co-chairs of the drug summit, Carmel Tebbutt and John Brogden, handed the government its final report including 56 recommendations, among them calls for Labor to 'significantly increase' funding for drug and alcohol services. Loading While the summit stopped short of recommending decriminalisation, it called for changes ranging from the introduction of a medical defence for driving while using medically prescribed cannabis, to cutting penalties for minor drug possession. The government has yet to respond to the summit's recommendations, but in a statement, Health Minister Ryan Park said it would do so 'in the next six months as requested by the co-chairs'. Park said the government had moved to introduce a pill testing trial in the interim, and that it had announced a $235 million package for drug and alcohol services before the summit. 'The funding is focused on meeting the unique needs of priority population groups including Aboriginal people, pregnant women, people with mental health conditions, young people and people involved in the criminal justice system,' he said.
The Age
10 hours ago
- The Age
LNP's ‘wait and see' policy black holes count for zero
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. OPPOSITION ENERGY POLICY Dan Tehan's latest commentary (' Tehan maintains rage over Labor's green agenda that is 'trashing our economy' ', 28/6 ) is a masterclass in political hedging. He attacks Labor's clean energy plan as too costly without offering any serious alternative – and without saying what he would spend, or do instead. Apparently, it's too soon to say what the Coalition's policy will be. But it's not too soon to throw stones. Tehan is trying to have it both ways: Acknowledging climate change is real, and we must act, but also undermining Australia's existing pathway to net zero – one endorsed by 195 countries and backed by growing investment, jobs and global momentum. Instead of proposing a credible, costed alternative, Tehan points to nuclear power – a decades-away, taxpayer-funded gamble that voters in proposed host communities clearly rejected. Meanwhile, his own Coalition partners, the Nationals, are openly discussing ditching net zero altogether. If the Coalition really believes in climate action and affordable energy, it needs to stop hiding behind scare campaigns and internal reviews. Tehan's 'wait and see' approach isn't leadership– it's delay dressed up as strategy. The public deserves more than recycled talking points and policy black holes. Alan Richardson, Warrnambool Pace for renewables after Coalition inaction Has it ever occurred to Dan Tehan (29/6) why the federal government has to move so quickly on rolling out renewable energy? May it have something to do with 20 years of Coalition governments' climate change denial and inaction? Geoff Wescott, Northcote Time for action is now I am surprised that Dan Tehan expects voters to be turned on by his plan to let Labor make all the running on climate for '18 months and two years and then work out what we can do'. There are indications enough that the Australian public knows that real emissions have to come down. We know that more severe climate deterioration can be expected as world average surface temperatures approach and exceed 1.5oC above their values in pre-industrial times. We are already effectively at this threshold – and emissions, instead of coming down, continue to rise. Human-induced climate change will only ease if, and when, global action is effective in bringing the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere back down towards levels prevalent in pre-industrial times. The concentration of carbon dioxide in pre-industrial times was 280 parts per million. It is now 420 ppm and rising. The responsible thing for the Coalition to do would be to work with the government in implementing the most cost-effective ways of reducing emissions, not in 18 months' or two years' time, but now. John Gare, Kew East More from the LNP policy wasteland Angus Taylor believes quotas for women in his party would 'subvert democracy' (27/6). This is what subverts democracy, Angus: Imposing false debts on half a million social security recipients, causing horrific stress and hardship (Robodebt); providing tax breaks and other benefits to wealthy individuals and companies in the hope some crumbs will eventually trickle down to everyone else (supply side economics – a bedrock LNP principle); ignoring the science of climate change for decades resulting in untold personal, financial and environmental damage (climate denialism). From the same policy wasteland, Dan Tehan, in an accompanying article, suggests the opposition might have some ideas for a climate policy in a few years' time, while railing against the Labor government's commitment to renewables. Meanwhile, the gap between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' is at a 20-year high. Democracy has already been subverted under your watch Angus. Please make way for someone – preferably a woman – with some caring, careful and better crafted policies. Peter Thomson, Brunswick THE FORUM Who is really responsible? Oh dear, Angus. No quotas for women have worked so well for the Liberals. So who was responsible for failing so spectacularly? The 'men' can't blame quotas (there were none). Nor can they blame the women (as there were too few). Jenny Bone, Surrey Hills Merit in quotas It's worrying that quotas in politics is somehow an undemocratic idea (28/6). The insistence on 'merit' seems like a way of effectively shutting women out of politics. It means that a male-dominated party will be the on-going pattern, to the exclusion of female voices and sensibilities. Quotas lift opportunity for a fair representation in politics and isn't this the soul of democracy? The trouble with the 'merit' ideology is that women have to compete with men on men's terms, disadvantaging many women from the outset. Would that we could see the merit in quotas. Ian Hill, Blackburn South
