Book Description

Climate Law in Australia provides the first extended account of Australia's new climate law. It examines key federal and state legislation and the main cases brought before Australian courts. It combines incisive legal analysis with a deep understanding of climate-related issues and policy. The authors include leading academics such as Professors Robyn Eckersley, David Farrier, Rob Fowler and Jan McDonald, and leading practitioners such as Charles Berger, Kirsty Ruddock, Chris McGrath, Allison Warburton and Martijn Wilder. The editors are Professor Tim Bonyhady, Director of the Australian Centre for Environmental Law at the Australian National University, and Dr Peter Christoff of the University of Melbourne and Vice President of the Australian Conservation Foundation. The book examines pivotal issues in Australian climate law and policy - the Kyoto Protocol and its alternatives, emissions targets, carbon trading, geosequestration, nuclear decision-making, adaptation to climate change and legal liability. It contains detailed analysis of the leading cases involving the Hazelwood power station, the Anvil Hill, Xstrata and Bowen Basin coal mines, and the Bald Hills and Taralga wind farms. Climate Law in Australia explores both the need for conventional legal regulation and the potential of economic responses to climate change. It shows how climate law has grown in Australia - and how far the law still has to go.