The New South Wales (NSW) Net Zero Commission has solicited submissions to help shape their work plan and to inform the advice and policy recommendations provided to the NSW Government.

Climateworks has a long history of engagement with the NSW Government, including through submissions on the NSW Housing Strategy Discussion Paper, the inquiry into electric buses in regional and metropolitan public transport networks and the Freight Policy Reform: Interim Directions paper.

Climateworks Centre’s decarbonisation scenarios 2023 is cited in the Commissions latest annual report, and we gave evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Net Zero Future. With a decade-long history of using scenario modelling to inform debate around decarbonisation pathways for Australia’s economy, we look forward to leveraging our technical insights and expertise to strengthen the Commission’s ability to fulfil its legislated functions.

Climateworks commends ambitious climate action and the commitments taken by the NSW Government to date. It is particularly laudable that the NSW Government was the first jurisdiction to establish an institutional framework for Renewable Energy Zones. This is especially urgent, given the window to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees is still open, but narrowing.

Our submission draws on a range of Climateworks’ modelling and research, in particular:

Climateworks recognises the importance of New South Wales’ Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023 and legislated greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. To improve the state’s ability to achieve these targets, as well as monitor, review and advise on progress towards these targets, Climateworks recommends that the New South Wales Net Zero Commission: 

  • Recommendation 1: Uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in all activities and leverage pre-existing advice commissioned by the government.
  • Recommendation 2.1: Evaluate the alignment of emissions reduction targets to a 1.5ºC and well-below 2ºC scenario, to guide progress between target points.
  • Recommendation 2.2: Build the Net Zero Commission’s capabilities to ensure their analysis of emissions, policies and pathways has appropriate independence from NSW government agencies.
  • Recommendation 3.1: Provide advice to ensure new electricity infrastructure is planned and assessed at a regional level, rather than on a project-by-project basis, while ensuring that potentially significant adverse environmental or social effects are identified and avoided.
  • Recommendation 3.2: Set out how to expand the use of digital mapping and data tools to assist with regional and state-level planning and analysis.
  • Recommendation 4.1: Provide advice to:
    • Accelerate the uptake of zero emissions vehicles with financial and non-financial policies.
    • Enable mode shift in passenger and freight transport through integrated planning.
    • Show how the NSW Government can work with the federal government to increase the ambition of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) and develop a well-designed ‘distance-based’ road pricing scheme.
  • Recommendation 5: Adopt a systematic and integrated approach to land use that considers competing land functions and seeks to optimise economic, social and environmental goals.
  • Recommendation 6: Work with the federal government and energy planning bodies to create an energy system that supports strong industrial regions and enables Australia and NSW to become a ‘renewable energy superpower’, including analysis to forecast and plan supply, storage and transmission solutions for ‘Regional ISPs’.
  • Recommendation 7.1: Call for the adoption of a net zero industrial precincts (NZIP) approach, to build confidence in heavy industry and the energy sector stakeholders, including through the provision of investor-grade plans.
  • Recommendation 7.2: Call for the NSW Government to work with the federal government on the adoption of demand-side measures designed to increase the maturity of markets for low and zero-carbon products.
  • Recommendation 8: Work with the federal government and energy planning bodies to create an energy system that supports strong industrial regions and enables Australia and NSW to become a ‘renewable energy superpower’, including analysis to forecast and plan supply, storage and transmission solutions for ‘Regional ISPs’.
  • Recommendation 9.1: Provide advice on how to support the expansion of firmed renewable energy and fuel-switching for off-grid sites.
  • Recommendation 9.2: Develop a biofuels supply chain strategy at the state level to ensure a sustainable and coordinated pathway for deploying bioenergy resources in the most high-impact use cases  and taking due consideration of other land uses and wider objectives including biodiversity.
  • Recommendation 10.1: Provide advice to ensure the NSW Government takes effective action to improve energy performance for new buildings, including:
    • calling for the implementation of the National Construction Code (NCC) to be current and to prioritise high energy performance for new buildings
    • calling for the introduction of a voluntary zero carbon building definition.
  • Recommendation 10.2: Provide advice on ways to improve existing buildings’ energy performance, including:
    • incentivising existing residential building retrofits, including a package of energy performance upgrades, switching from gas to electric appliances
    • further funding of upgrades for priority households.
  • Recommendation 11: Develop metrics and indicators for each major emissions source identified, and associated policy interventions, within each sector.
  • Recommendation 12: Set out how the Net Zero Commission and the NSW Government will develop or access modelling of least-cost pathways to reduce emissions within NSW in line with a 1.5ºC pathway, coupled with economic information, and how this will be made available to decision-makers and stakeholders.

More detail on these recommendations can be found in the submission [PDF 0.6mb].