Australia

National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007

Legislative

Law

Passed in 2017

The Act establishes the legislative framework for the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme. The goal of the NGER Act was to introduce a single national reporting framework for the reporting and dissemi-nation of information related to GHG emissions, GHG projects, energy consumption and energy production of corporations. The NGER Act was in part designed to underpin the introduction of a future emissions trading scheme. Additionally, the NGER Act is intended to meet international GHG reporting obligations, and reduce red tape and duplication associated with emissions reporting.

The NGER Act sets out a number of thresholds in relation to GHG emissions, energy production and energy consumption. Corporations that meet an annual NGER threshold must register with the Clean Energy Regulator, and submit annual reports of GHG emissions, energy production, energy consumption, and other information. The annual reports cover the financial year (1 July to 30 June). All registered corporations are required to submit a report, even where the threshold has not been met in a given reporting year. Failure to submit reports on time can attract penalties.

If the Climate Change Authority (Abolition) Bill 2013 [No. 2] passes into law, the Act may be amended to require the Minister to cause to be conducted reviews of the operation of the Act and legislative instruments under the Act.