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| Tue, 10th Jan 2023 18:25:00 |
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Big polluters forced to cut emissions by 4.9 per cent each year until 2030 in Labor plan to slash Australia’s carbon |
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has unveiled a roadmap for 215 of the country's biggest polluters to decarbonise, offering incentives to invest in cleaner technology.
The Albanese Government has proposed reforms that will see the country’s largest polluting companies slash their emissions by at least 28 per cent by 2030, in an effort to meet Labor’s legislated targets.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has laid out the path to revamping the Safeguard Mechanism introduced by the Coalition in 2016, limiting the emissions of 215 oil, gas, mining and manufacturing facilities.
The reforms are expected to support businesses in reducing their annual greenhouse output by 4.9 per cent every year until 2030 and cut 205 million tonnes of emissions or the equivalent of two-thirds of Australia’s cars.
Mr Bowen admitted the reforms were complicated but that the regulations would create baselines and the stability needed for industries to decarbonise.
“We will start primarily by taking the starting position as the emissions of each facility, and then between now and 2030 we will move to more of an industry baseline,” Mr Bowan said in Gladstone.
“We will have a cap on the price of carbon credits – $75. This was important to provide that stability and certainty going forward.”
In September, Labor passed a bill which enshrined a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050 in law.
The Climate Change Minister explained that each facility would have its own baseline and tailored targets to help them contribute to the overall emission reduction requirements, before transitioning to sector benchmarks in 2030.
Meanwhile trade intensive facilities would be supported through $600 million in funding to help them invest in new technologies under the Powering the Regions Fund.
“There is much more to it than that, but these are some of the key points. This is pro-climate, pro-industry, pro competitiveness,” Mr Bowen said.
Carbon Market Institute CEO John Connor praised the proposed changes and although he admitted to wanting more ambition from the government, conceded it was a “significant step”.
“This is a very significant step today, to decarbonise our industry and make it competitive with a world that is heading towards net zero emissions,” he told Sky News Australia on Tuesday.
Labor's position paper revealed that businesses would have no initial limits on credit use, with polluters either using Australian carbon credits from the existing system or new safeguard credits bought from companies that emitted below their limit by bigger polluters.
He suggested it put “businesses back in the driving seat” and gave them the incentive to invest in cleaner technologies, using the crediting system while they put the changes into place.
“I think this is about setting investment signals to business to be putting in place the cleaner technologies that they need if they are to be competitive in this new world,” Mr Connor said.
“But also to have some flexibility as they do so. That's why we’ve got the crediting system that will allow companies to trade amongst other companies that are covered by these safeguard limits.
“Or trade into the broader carbon framework that's driving emission reductions in other areas of the economy, like agriculture.”
For industries at risk of losing business to overseas competitors as a result of the changes, there would be exceptions made to cut emissions at slower rates.
The Greens were quick to criticise the reforms and warned the safeguard rules could give coal and gas companies “dodgy offsetting” instead of significant pollution cuts.
“Buying offsets is just coins down the back of the couch for them. Coal and gas can’t be allowed to just buy their way out of real pollution cuts with dodgy offsetting,” acting Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi said.
“The Greens want to work with the government to ensure the Safeguard Mechanism delivers real and deep pollution cuts, not just dodgy offsetting and an excuse for coal and gas to expand and keep polluting.”
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