Our initiatives and commitments on climate change
Learn how we are strengthening our regulatory approaches to climate change and how we support the NSW Government’s Climate Change Policy Framework goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resilience to climate change.
Our Climate Change Policy and Action Plan 2023–26 adopts, supports and builds on the strong foundations that have been set by the NSW Government through the NSW Climate Change Policy Framework, Net Zero Plan and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, as well as various supporting climate change policies and strategies to help industries decarbonise.
We consulted on a draft Climate Change Policy and Action Plan in 2022. A summary of the consultation outcomes, and our response, is available on Your Say.Find out how the NSW Government is supporting households, business and the community to make sustainable choices at NSW Climate and Energy Action.
Our Strategic Plan 2021-24 identifies climate change and ecological sustainable development as two of our key focus areas. We are committed to:
- taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate climate change impacts and build greater environmental and community resilience aligned with the principles in the NSW Net Zero Plan
- championing sustainable approaches to mitigate the cumulative impacts of industry on local communities and environments.
Our Regulatory Strategy 2021–24 outlines our purpose, guiding principles and approach to improving outcomes for the environment and human health. The strategy identifies climate change as one of our key regulatory challenges.
Our Regulatory Policy explains how we make decisions and identify appropriate action to respond to environmental or human health issues.
We have prepared our first Climate Change Impacts, Risks and Adaptation Statement consistent with the framework established by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. These statements will be published annually alongside our annual report.
Our Waste Delivery Plan outlines the action we will take to reduce the harmful impact of waste and drive behaviours that create a circular economy, including actions to deliver on the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041. Our Waste Delivery Plan includes actions to reduce carbon emissions and build the waste sector's resilience to the impacts of climate change.
We are helping to build markets and drive innovation in carbon recycling and remanufacturing across all waste and resource streams. This work is supported by the Carbon Abatement Opportunities for a Circular Economy study, the $37 million Carbon Recycling and Abatement Fund and a circular economy ‘concierge’ service we are planning to establish.
The EPA is partnering with Infrastructure NSW to release a landmark Protection of the Environment Policy (PEP) for sustainable construction, promoting low-carbon design and construction, and increased use of remanufactured waste in NSW public infrastructure projects.
We prepare the NSW State of the Environment (SoE) report every three years, to provide a snapshot in time of the status of the main environmental issues facing NSW. The Climate and Air theme of our SoE 2021 report describes the causes and consequences of climate change in NSW and provides information about the NSW Government’s response, including information about the Net Zero Plan.
