Consultation has opened on the ACT’s 2026-2035 Climate Change Strategy. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
The ACT Government has shifted its focus from emissions reduction to making the Territory more adaptable, as it seeks community feedback on its next climate change strategy.
The Territory did not meet its 2025 interim emissions reduction target (a 50-60 per cent reduction), but it’s hoped the new strategy will enable the final goal to be achieved.
Climate Change Minister Suzanne Orr said this was why the 2026-2035 strategy was being described as “adaptable” and different to previous iterations.
“We’ll have two components. One is the framework, which is largely what we’re consulting about now, checking that we’ve identified the key themes correctly, and that our focus is in the right direction with the community’s agreement,” Ms Orr said.
“Once we’ve got that framework bedded down and actually put in place, we can develop shorter action plans. This is so that, over the 10 years of the strategy, as new opportunities or challenges arise, we can respond … without having to wait to do a new strategy in 10 years’ time.”
The ACT Government has been criticised for taking so long to formulate a strategy, given that the last one has already expired.
Ms Orr said this was because everything needed to be re-examined to make sure the strategy could be more responsive.
“Climate change is a big challenge, it’s a complex challenge, and it’s presenting new challenges,” she said.
“Things we didn’t know were going to happen are suddenly happening, technologies we didn’t know existed are suddenly there, we have more options, [so we’ve been considering] how do we actually make sure that we have that ability to capture and integrate all of those into our response to climate change, so that we’re doing all that we can in a timely manner?
“That’s been a lot of the thinking and a lot of the work that’s been there in progressing it forward.”
The discussion paper outlines the ACT Government’s priorities for the next decade across seven areas (themes) to achieve its emission-reduction and climate-adaptation goals.
These areas are: embedding equality, wellbeing and resilience, transport, natural environment, built environment, energy, government, and other emissions.
It also includes what the government has been doing in these areas thus far, and what ‘success’ would look like.
Ms Orr said people would see “adaptation” emerge as a much stronger priority than in previous years.
“We know the climate’s already changing, and we need to do a lot more to adapt our city, to adapt our environment to actually respond to the changes we’re already seeing,” she said.
“The other one that I think really comes through … is actually looking at how we do this in an equitable way. We know that everyone in our community will be affected by the transition, and also by the impacts of climate change, so how do we make sure that our response is actually gathering the impact on people and responding to it in a way that supports everyone through the transition?”
ACT Climate Council member Ro McFarlane and Climate Change Minister Suzanne Orr. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
ACT Climate Council member, University of Canberra Associate Professor Ro McFarlane, said developing the strategy was about more than responding to a changing climate.
It was about how to help Canberrans adapt, become more resilient, make them healthier, and provide a roadmap for other jurisdictions.
“I think one of the things that we can do here in the ACT, which is really exciting, is that we can give leadership,” she said.
“If we can take these steps … and come to a situation where we have thriving communities, seizing all the opportunities for businesses but also to increase social resilience, health and wellbeing in a climate-ready national capital, I think that’s really an exciting vision.
“I think that’s where we need to be, really putting our sights.”
The ACT Conservation Council has slammed the documents.
Executive director Simon Copeland described the discussion paper as vague and did little more than outline what’s already been said.
“At a time when climate impacts are intensifying, and the community expects real leadership, this discussion paper offers no new goals and no credible plan to get us there,” he said.
“It reads like a hastily put-together placeholder, not a framework for action.
“This discussion paper is not worth the time and energy it has taken the public service to write it, let alone the hours community groups have put into consultation.”
The Conservation Council has called on the ACT Government to bring forward its net-zero commitment to 2040, ramp up investment in public and active transport, increase Canberra’s urban forest and more.
“The government needs to step up its ambition,” Mr Copland said.
“Canberrans deserve a climate strategy with clear, measurable outcomes and real accountability – not another vague discussion paper.”
Consultation on the strategy is open until 18 March.
