Policy Snapshot - April 2023

A new government for New South Wales

NSW went to the polls on 25 March and voted in a new government to be led by The Hon Chris Minns MP.

GBCA looks forward to working with the Minns Government to continue the sustainable transformation of NSW’s built environment, particularly in the areas of developing key social infrastructure for education and healthcare and meeting their net zero by 2050 target.

Shay Singh, Senior Manager Policy and Government Relations, provides insight into the new NSW government and opportunities for sustainability.

Building with nature 

GBCA has released its paper, Building with Nature 2.0 which consolidates the latest science and global trends, research, policies, and views from industry about how we can work together to restore and regenerate nature and biodiversity, and reduce our future impacts.

Also in March, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, introduced the Nature Repair Market Bill 2023 into the parliament. The Nature Repair Market will aim to reward landholders for restoring and protecting nature and provide options for businesses to invest in nature repair.

'Global Policy Principles' launched by WorldGBC

WorldGBC and its network of more than 75 Green Building Councils around the world have launched the “Global Policy Principles for a Sustainable Built Environment''. These will help to support policymakers around the world adopt a holistic approach to sustainability in the built environment and ensure that new and updated policies and legislation deliver the transformative action needed to reach the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. 

The principles are structured around seven key themes: carbon, resilience, circularity, water, biodiversity, health, equity and access. These themes are supported by detailed policy levers that can be used to drive change through regulation, information and incentives.

TRANSFORM takeaways

GBCA’s annual conference on 22-23 March was bursting with inspiration, sobering reality checks, and opportunities to accelerate action on climate change and sustainability.

Many conference attendees, as well as Senator David Pocock who provided an address, noted that momentum on climate action, particularly from governments, has increased noticeably.

However, Senator Pocock noted, “Finding solutions is not enough; we need to act.”

Mechanisms for making progress on our goals

Two pieces of legislation to help Australia achieve our commitments under the Paris Agreement were passed in March.

The National Reconstruction Fund will support Australia’s manufacturing industry, with a focus on low and zero emissions products.

The Safeguard Mechanism legislation sets declining baselines for high-emitting facilities and introduces an emissions trading system which will incentivise change.