This report examines how Australia law does and does not protect children from environmental harm, and how Australian legislation is failing to protect a child’s right to a healthy environment. The report investigates international moves to incorporate this right into law showing where Australia should do more.

The Climate Council commissioned Professor Jacqueline Peel, Director of Melbourne Climate Futures, and Professor of Environmental and Climate Law at the University of Melbourne Law School, to produce this report examining the gaps in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and other federal laws for protection of the climate.

This report collates the scientific evidence that explains how climate change harms nature, and the impacts already being experienced by species and landscapes that Australia's environment laws were designed to protect.

This document forms the Australian government's response the Independent Review of the EPBC Act, conducted by Graeme Samuel in 2021. It sets out the government’s commitment to reform Australia’s environmental laws to better protect, restore and manage Australia's unique environment.

During the last 15 years, climate change litigation has also spread across the globe. However, classic tort law has, in most jurisdictions, not adapted to process tort climate change claims. This model law covers both the public law and the private law side of environmental liability, offering more choices for regulators.