Australia’s peak clean energy investment body has warned that long-awaited environmental law reforms could fail to accelerate renewable energy developments unless the federal government urgently resolves key regulatory gaps ahead of a looming December deadline.
In a new report titled Implementing the EPBC Act: Recommendations to support better, faster decisions for renewable energy projects, the Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) urged policymakers to swiftly finalise the operational framework supporting the amended EPBC Act.
The report highlights that critical components, including National Environmental Standards, offset calculations, and the definition of a ‘net gain’, remain unresolved despite parliament passing the overhauled legislation.
“Parliament finally passed the most significant environment law reform in a generation – but now the hard part begins: ensuring it works in practice,” said Richie Merzian, CEO of the Clean Energy Investor Group.
“Renewable energy companies are being asked to prepare for a system that isn’t yet finished. These reforms can deliver faster, better decisions for renewables and for the environment – but only if government matches the ambition of the legislation with the same clarity of purpose in how it’s implemented.”
The report outlines several key recommendations, calling for greater data sharing to prevent assessment officers from defaulting to risk-averse delays. Citing an internal government review which revealed over half of department staff felt a low risk appetite hampered performance, the CEIG urged officials to make evidence-based decisions rather than viewing clean energy projects through a lens of uncertainty.
The group also recommended optimising the newly created Restoration Contributions Holder to fund environmental offsets at a coordinated level.
The report stresses that securing an efficient environmental approval process is essential to attracting the capital required to meet national decarbonisation targets, ultimately protecting the ecosystems the EPBC Act is designed to conserve.
“The successful implementation of the reforms is critical not only for investor confidence, but also for supporting the renewable energy projects needed to reduce emissions, which is fundamental to protecting the threatened species and ecosystems the EPBC Act exists to conserve,” Merzian said.