A climate ‘duty of care’ would protect children’s wellbeing

Today’s children will live with the greatest impacts of climate change, but they’re not formally represented in our political system. The proposed ‘Duty of Care’ amendment to the Climate Change Act would ensure elected representatives consider the wellbeing of future generations in decisions with significant climate impacts.

Read time: 5 mins

Based on Submission: Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023, published October 2023.

Key takeaways

1

Children are politically unrepresented and have contributed little to climate change but will suffer disproportionately from its effects.

2

Legislating a duty of care would ensure that current and future decision-makers consider children’s wellbeing, while serving as a bulwark against future attempts to undermine climate action.

3

Changes to the wording of the Bill could make it more robust and enforceable.

Researchers from the ANU Institute of Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS) have assessed the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023. The Senate Environment and Communications Committee will table its report into the Bill in the coming days, and the Parliament is due to debate it soon after.

The Bill, sponsored by ACT Senator David Pocock, follows the 2021 court case by eight children, led by Anjali Sharma, against the Federal Minister for the Environment. The young people argued that the Minister had a duty of care to protect them from climate change. While initially successful, the court’s decision was overturned on appeal from the Government in 2022.

The Bill, introduced in 2023, would amend the Climate Change Act to require decision-makers to consider the health and wellbeing of children and future generations when making decisions that have a significant impact on future climate change, including the approval of new fossil fuel projects.

ICEDS’ submission on the Bill, based on expert analysis, highlights young people’s experiences of climate anxiety, which is exacerbated by a feeling of betrayal due to the government’s inaction on climate change. It also notes international examples where intergenerational justice was embedded into law, including examples from Germany, the United States and Wales.

The ANU submission also proposes measures to make the Bill more robust and enforceable, including:

  • Expanding and clarifying the definition of health and wellbeing. Measurable indices would strengthen the Bill and could be adapted from existing measures such as Eurostat’s Quality of Life Indicators.
  • Including special considerations for marginalised young people. Decision-makers should be required to give special consideration to children who may suffer disproportionately from climate change, whether this is due to socio-economic or other intersectional issues such as race, gender, poverty, and disability.
  • Advocating for a duty of care to be embedded in all relevant legislation. This would broaden the scope beyond just the Climate Change Act.

“Legislating a duty of care would ensure that current and future decision-makers consider children’s wellbeing.”

Conclusion
The Australian Parliament has the chance to ensure there is a codified duty of care to protect current and future children from harm resulting from decisions that exacerbate climate change, and potential future attempts to subvert climate action. While legislation could be repealed, putting protections in place is a valuable administrative measure, forcing future governments wishing to argue against a duty of care to debate it in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Based on the work of ANU experts

Professor

Mark Howden

ANU College of Science

Professor

Hilary Bambrick

ANU College of Health and Medicine