Lilly Deluca and Harry Fell, are researchers at GreenLaw, a youth-led legal thinktank empowering the next generation of lawyers to tackle the climate crisis.
In 2020, the ACT became the first mainland Australian State or Territory to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy, reaffirming its reputation as a climate leader. There is, however, a growing recognition that the green transition must be pursued in an equitable manner. Technological climate solutions are necessary but not enough and the roll-out of renewable energy innovation provides a unique opportunity to tackle inequality in the ACT. We must ensure that these developments contribute to achieving social goals as part of a just transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The ACT Government must now ensure it leads in achieving climate justice.
Recently, the Standing Committee on Environment, Climate Change and Biodiversity of the ACT Legislative Assembly published its findings for the Inquiry into Renewable Energy Innovation in the ACT. Our organisation, GreenLaw, made numerous submissions to the Inquiry which were heavily drawn upon in its findings.
In particular, we provided detailed submissions on the benefits of community-scale batteries as a viable pathway for creating an equitable, reliable and clean energy supply. We made recommendations on how the ACT could leverage and transform existing infrastructure, funding programs, and regulatory frameworks to facilitate the uptake of such batteries. Critically, GreenLaw emphasised the importance of embedding social and equitable considerations in renewable energy law reform.
We believe that renewable energy reform is about more than economics. How we transition to net-zero emissions is about choosing what type of future we want. Community-owned renewables is a fantastic opportunity for us to invest in a just transition that ensures no Canberran is left behind.
We strongly support the findings of the Inquiry, released in late June 2022, which revealed a clear commitment to achieving a just and equitable energy transition for all Canberrans. In particular, the Inquiry recommended that social goals should form a core part of ACT renewable energy policy.
The Inquiry emphasised that the ACT Government should adopt clear and detailed strategies for the implementation of community-scale batteries and support low socio-economic and other vulnerable groups to participate in, and benefit from, the roll-out. Community-scale batteries, also known as neighbourhood batteries, are designed to store electricity and provide energy security at a suburb level. Such batteries allow households to come together, to power each other and reap the economic benefits of participating in the energy grid.
The ACT has much to gain and little to lose from an equitable roll-out of renewable energies. Our community wellbeing hinges on all Canberrans participating in, and benefiting from, a just transition.
We know that the most vulnerable in our community will be disproportionately impacted by climate change. Renewable energy innovation provides an exciting opportunity for the ACT to rewrite this narrative by funding renewable energies that ensure we can all benefit from climate action. Such reforms also promote our human rights, including the right to a healthy environment, upholding the ACT’s demonstrated commitment to human rights.
GreenLaw commends the Inquiry’s focus on social goals in the transition to net-zero and looks forward to seeing the ACT Government action its findings in a just and timely manner.
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