Chapter 1Introduction

Referral of the inquiry

1.1On 26 August 2025, the Senate referred an inquiry into the Climate Risk Assessment to the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report, with the following terms of reference:

(a)the Government’s secrecy and withholding of the Climate Risk Assessment (the assessment) from the Australian public since December 2024;

(b)the research, consultation and preparation of the assessment by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water;

(c)the expected ongoing impacts upon the Australian community that are contained within the assessment;

(d)the budgetary costs of both climate driven natural disasters and any government adaptation plans;

(e)the Government’s ongoing approach to transparency related to reducing emissions and adaptation to a world currently on track for 2.6 to 3.1 degrees of warming; and

(f)any other related matters.[1]

Conduct of the inquiry

1.2The committee published details of the inquiry on its webpage and called for written submissions by 10 September 2025.

1.3The committee received 30 written submissions, as well as answers to questions on notice, as listed at Appendix 1.

1.4The committee held one public hearing on 16 September 2025 in Canberra. Details of witnesses who appeared at the hearing are listed at Appendix 2.

Acknowledgement

1.5The committee thanks inquiry participants who provided submissions to the committee and attended the public hearing.

Structure of this report

1.6In addition to this introductory chapter, this report has three further chapters:

Chapter 2—considers the process involved in preparing the National Climate Risk Assessment (NCRA), and concerns raised regarding its public release;

Chapter 3—summarises some of the expected ongoing impacts on the Australian community of climate change, as outlined in the NCRA, and in turn addresses the related budgetary costs of climate driven natural disasters and any government adaptation plans; and

Chapter 4—presents the committee’s views and recommendations.

Footnotes

[1]Journals of the Senate, No. 9, 26 August 2025, pp. 296–297. The original reporting date of 20 November 2025 was subsequently extended to 10 December 2025.