Damning environmental scorecard as NSW abandons old Net Zero Plan

NSW is on track to miss greenhouse gas targets, its inland rivers are dying, land clearing is rampant, and the number of threatened species has increased, according to a damning new report card on the state’s environmental performance.

The Minns government will scrap the Net Zero Plan it inherited from the Coalition and write a new one to meet legally mandated reductions of 50 per cent by 2030, 70 per cent by 2035 and net zero by 2050. At present, it is expected to meet 46 per cent in 2030 and 62 per cent in 2035, according to the Net Zero Emissions Dashboard updated on Thursday.

The 2035 outlook is now worse than it was a year ago when the NSW government first revealed it was on track to miss the targets.

Minister for Climate Change and Environment Penny Sharpe said the new Net Zero Plan would take a sector-by-sector approach to decarbonisation, with input from all relevant portfolio ministers for the first time.

Millions of fish died near Menindee in outback NSW in March 2023.Credit: Graeme McCrabb

“The previous Net Zero Plan was done in 2020 and the numbers that were used were best-case scenario. A lot has changed since then,” Sharpe said. “Our new plan will take in the latest information and help us reach the targets that the Minns government enshrined in law.”

In parliament on Thursday, Sharpe tabled the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s statutory State of the Environment report, which comes out every three years, and also the whole-of-government response to the Net Zero Commission’s first annual report released in November 2024.

The 676-page State of the Environment report reveals a devastating decline since the last report in 2021, and the capacity of NSW ecosystems to sustain life has been slashed to 29 per cent of its natural level since colonisation.

Eighteen species of animals were added to the threatened species list since 2021, and 18 species of plants since 2020. The population and distribution of native mammals, birds and fish, and the impact of invasive species were all moderate to poor and getting worse. Without effective management, only half of the 657 plant species and half of the 991 land animal species listed as threatened are predicted to survive in 100 years’ time, the report says.

“The government does not shy away from the grim reports on the environment,” Sharpe said. “I am focused on turning this around. Action on the energy transition, biodiversity and law reform to better protect the environment is under way. Turning the dial will take time and we are honest about that.”

Land clearing continued to be significantly higher than before the laws were loosened in 2016, and the extent of native vegetation declined between 2021 and 2024, despite woody vegetation growing well in the wet years. Updated land-clearing figures will be out in the next few days.

The State of the Environment report suggests transport will overtake energy to be the largest source of emissions by 2030, because of rapid growth in renewables and the planned closure of coal-fired power stations in the next five years. Sharpe said the new Net Zero Plan will target transport and the built environment – homes, buildings and infrastructure – as key focus areas to reduce emissions.

Mountain pygmy possums are endangered in NSW.Credit: Tim Bawden

The Net Zero Commission warned in its annual report last November that any expansion of coal mining would mean every other sector would have to make faster and deeper cuts to emissions. Since then, the NSW government has approved four new high-emitting coal mine extensions, while another 18 were in the planning pipeline, according to analysis from anti-fossil fuels group Lock the Gate.

Sharpe said the NSW government was reviewing the Strategic Statement on Coal Exploration and Mining, which it inherited from the previous government, while the EPA is developing the coal mine mitigation guide. The government has also updated information to the Independent Planning Commission to include consideration of emissions in planning decisions.

Land clearing in NSW is still higher than before the laws were loosened in 2016.Credit: Australian Conservation Foundation

Opposition environment spokesman James Griffin said when Labor was in opposition, it condemned the previous government and made protection of the environment a totemic issue, but it had failed to take action in office.

“I listened to [the] budget this week and did not hear the term ‘environment’ mentioned once,” Griffin said. “That tells you what you need to know about how much senior members of the Minns government care about the environment.”

Greens environment and climate change spokeswoman Sue Higginson said the report painted a “catastrophic picture” of biodiversity, yet the budget on Tuesday showed the Minns government did not spend $446 million of the money it allocated to environmental protection last year. (The government confirmed the money was still budgeted and had rolled over to a new financial year).

“Whichever lens you look through, whether it’s the delivery of promises, the underspend to date, the allocation of resources, and the lack of programs and vision to address the state of the environment, we can now say clearly the Minns Labor government does not prioritise the environment,” Higginson said. “It is clearly a low, low priority for this government, and if anything it’s all just become politics.”

Aerial view of selectively logged native forest in Little Newry Forest, part of the Great Koala National Park assessment area, in December 2024.Credit: Janie Barrett

Total waste generation is growing faster than the population, rising from 18.7 million tonnes in 2015-16 to 22.4 million tonnes in 2022-23. However, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are declining, despite population growth. Soil quality is mostly good, but soil acidification is increasing, and contamination remains an issue, especially in Aboriginal communities, the report says.

Nature Conservation Council of NSW chief executive Jacqui Mumford said she feared the report was evidence the Minns government made the right statements on environment policy, but did not take necessary action.

For example, Mumford said the government had promised to create the Great Koala National Park on the North Coast, and had not only failed to deliver it so far, but continued to allow loggers to operate within its boundaries as it conducted studies on it.

Further, she said the government had commissioned a report on inland river connectivity, yet failed to act on its recommendations even as tens of millions of fish died in increasingly common fish kills as the rivers collapsed around them.

Water quality is getting worse in inland rivers and wetlands, especially in the Murray-Darling Basin, the report shows. The number of fish kill events averaged 69 per year between 2019 and 2023, up from 21 per year between 2009 and 2018.

“Our state’s environment is being mismanaged, and until the developers, irrigators, and logging companies are kicked out of government back rooms, nothing will change,” Mumford said.

“Our rivers are being sucked dry, forests are shrinking, and species are vanishing. We need the NSW government to act with the urgency that the biodiversity crisis demands.”

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