Tuesday 12th November
The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state's leading environmental advocacy organisation, today welcomed the commitment from the NSW State Government to reduce planning delays for renewable energy projects and called for action to restore nature during the renewable energy transition.
"Unblocking the clean energy pipeline is the first step to allowing cleaner, cheaper energy to flow to the people of NSW," said Nature Conservation Council CEO Jacqui Mumford.
"NSW needs a four-fold increase in wind farm construction to provide clean, cheap electricity ahead of the closure of the state's aging coal-fired power stations.
"The state is behind on its legislated climate targets and has already made the costly and polluting decision to extend the largest coal power station's closure date by two years.
"The Nature Conservation Council is also calling on the government to fix nature laws to reverse the decline of biodiversity in the state.
"The renewable energy transition is a 'once in a generation' opportunity to restore degraded habitat. Where developers are siting projects on already cleared land, they should be looking at opportunities to restore damaged creek lines or revegetate, for example."
"We are in a biodiversity crisis - only half of NSW's threatened species expected to survive in 100 years due to pressures of climate change and land clearing.
"Action is needed now to strengthen nature laws and use the renewable transition to reach emissions reductions and biodiversity goals."
The NSW Renewable Energy Planning Framework includes guidelines for wind, solar and transmission renewable energy projects, negotiating agreements with private landholders hosting infrastructure and ensuring benefits flow to local communities.
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