Human rights and the environment

Climate change will have severe impacts on people’s human rights in Australia, including through more frequent and severe extreme weather and natural disasters including bushfires and floods.

People’s rights that will be directly affected include rights to life, food, water, health, work and an adequate standard of living. Other rights will be indirectly affected.

• The Australian Government’s recent National climate risk assessment (2025) details that without immediate and transformative action, climate shocks will devastate Australian communities, overwhelm emergency services and strain health, housing, food and energy systems beyond repair.
• In 2025, The Australian Human Rights Commission released Human rights on a warming earth. This report describes the connection between climate change and human rights and outlines the critical importance of addressing climate change to protect people’s rights in Australia.

Environmental protection and climate action

In response to Australia’s international commitments under the Paris Agreement to restrict greenhouse gas emissions, the Australian Government introduced the Climate Change Act 2022 (Cth) (CCA) in 2022.

The Climate Change Act sets out four key objectives:

• Advance an effective and progressive response to the urgent threat of climate change, drawing on the best available scientific knowledge.
• Set out Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets to contribute to global goals of reducing the global average temperature.
• Promote accountability and ambition by establishing ministerial responsibility to prepare an annual climate change statement that is presented to the Australian Parliament.
• Ensure that both the climate change statement and Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets are informed by independent advice from the Climate Change Authority, an independent statutory Australian Government agency established to advise the Australian Government on climate change policy.

The CCA confirms Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of a 43 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050.

A range of Australian Government policies prioritise renewable energy investment as a means of achieving these targets, underpinned by an 82 per cent renewable electricity target by 2030.

Climate change is an urgent and increasing threat to Australian lives and livelihoods

Global warming

Climate change is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) that release greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. These emissions are causing global temperatures to rise and contributing to more frequent and intense extreme weather events.

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, immediate, deep and sustained emissions reductions are essential to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Climate change is also deeply interconnected with the biodiversity and pollution crises, each compounding the effects of the others and threatening the health of people and the planet.

In September this year, the Australian Government announced a more ambitious target to cut emissions by 62-70% below 2005 levels by 2035. This announcement has been acknowledged as progress, however criticised as not enough of a global contribution to prevent the catastrophic impacts laid out in the National Climate Risk Assessment.

While the Australian Government has legislated the Climate Change Act 2022 (Cth) (CCA), the CCA is not sufficient in enforcing duties in relation to achieving Australia’s emissions reduction targets or requiring human rights consideration in decision making concerning climate change, emissions or the environment.

Climate change will threaten some communities more than others

The impacts of climate change will not be felt equally by people in Australia. Those who are already disadvantaged are more vulnerable. People living in poverty, older people, people with a disability, First Peoples and rural communities will be hit harder.

Climate change’s impact on Indigenous rights is already evident in several parts of the world, including Australia. Increasing and shifting coastal tides pose significant risks to culturally significant sites and practices for Torres Strait Islander communities. Communities have reported the need to relocate ancestral remains due to sea level rise uncovering grave sites close to the coast.

There are also growing concerns about difficulties in sharing cultural practices, such as fishing, with younger generations as a result of habitat changes and the loss of local species. These impacts have contributed to a loss of language and culture.

In June 2025, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy stated that the Australian Government intends to engage in reconciliation with First Peoples through the renewable energy transition. As this transition will require access to large areas of land and sea Country, the First Nations Clean Energy Network recommends that medium to large renewable energy projects follow its 10 best practice principles.

These principles are intended to ensure economic and social benefits for First Nations communities, promote mutual respect and clear communication, and appropriately consider cultural and environmental values. They also emphasise business and employment opportunities for First Nations peoples, as well as the importance of obtaining free, prior and informed consent.