Climate Governance and Federalism in Australia

Abstract

This chapter outlines a situation where a country with heavy reliance on carbon-intensive energy resources has faced substantial greenhouse gas dilemmas; where those dilemmas manifest themselves in strong ideological and partisan differences; and where both the central government (the Commonwealth) and the States have broad licence in climate change policymaking. It finds that the need for coordination can be exaggerated and that federalism has been a facilitating rather than a hindering factor in Australia, with constituent unit action compensating for central government inaction.