An alliance of NSW crossbenchers has successfully secured a significant number of amendments to ensure the state's climate laws are more than ornamental.
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Labor proposed a bill which would legislate a 2050 state net-zero emissions target and an independent commission to review and report annually on the government's progress.
The bill would also enshrine a 2030 goal of a minimum 50 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions on 2005 levels.
Parliament's upper house debated the bill late into Tuesday night before finally passing it with 16 amendments.
The Greens secured changes to make the state's net zero target legally binding and ensure the framework includes an emissions reduction target of 70 per cent by 2035 and provides a mechanism to ramp up the targets.
The minor party also successfully passed a change to give the new Net Zero Commission the power to provide advice on coal and gas projects.
Greens MP Sue Higginson said the amendments passed would ensure the laws do more than provide "ornamental, unambitious targets" and genuinely help battle climate change.
"The guarantees we have secured from the government will mean the community can hold decision makers to account on achieving net zero," she said.
"Empowering the Net Zero Commission to provide fearless and independent advice about coal and gas projects is a critical plank in ending fossil fuel reliance in NSW and something that should provide confidence to decision makers when refusing to open new projects."
The Legalise Cannabis Party also secured an amendment to require the government of the day to set a 2040 and 2045 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The targets must specify a reduction greater than those set for previous years.
"It is very important for us to work constructively together ... to build a consensus that lasts," Legalise Cannabis MP Jeremy Buckingham told parliament on Tuesday.
"We have seen what happens when there is no consensus and climate change becomes a political football.
"The evidence is clear: We must be more ambitious and we have to create the mechanisms to deliver on that ambition."
The bill will need to pass the parliament's lower house before becoming law.
Australian Associated Press
