SEMINAR: Law Occasional Research Conversations � Climate Change series #2 The Law of Climate Change Mitigation in Australia and Germany: Why is it so different?

Australia’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions at a rate of around 26 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year are highest among all industrialized nations. Compared to 1990 levels, greenhouse gas emissions have even increased steeply by 29 per cent. German greenhouse gas emissions, by contrast, have decreased by 18 per cent to an average of around 12 tons per person. Different from Germany, Australia’s emission profile thereby is not in line with the obligation under international law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.

This discrepancy is reflected by a very low degree of legislative activity of the Commonwealth to mitigate climate change, whereas the German federal level has enacted a broad range of legal measures to increase energy efficiency and the share of renewable energies. This paper argues that there are no natural, economic or legal reasons that can explain the different approaches in Australia and Germany. There are, however, some legal reasons deriving from the supranational and constitutional context that may add to an explanation of divergences and differences.