Australian companies that generate the highest levels of pollutants will be given a formal timeline to reduce emissions. Photo: mullerm/123RF
Australia's government has proposed forcing the country's biggest polluters to slash their emissions by 30 percent in the next seven years.
The Labor Party proposed the move on Tuesday, with some leeway for trade-exposed local industries, such as aluminium and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The government also announced it would release A$600 million ($NZ650m) to trade-exposed facilities to help them cut emissions.
The "safeguard mechanism" reform plan, which the government planned to finalise in April to take effect on 1 July, would be key to achieving its target to cut carbon emissions by 43 percent on 2005 levels by 2030, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
"Reforms to the Safeguard will help create an effective, equitable and efficient trajectory to net zero," Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in a statement.
The safeguard mechanism, in place since 2016, sought to limit emissions from Australia's biggest polluters - 215 oil, gas, mining and manufacturing facilities that annually emitted more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2-e).
Together they accounted for 28 percent of Australia's carbon emissions.
They were forecast to emit 143 million tonnes of CO2-e in the year to June 2023, and the government now wanted them to cut that to no more than 100 million tonnes of CO2-e by 2030.
That would ensure they would deliver their proportional share of emissions cuts across the economy.
Based on six months of consultation, the government proposed to stick with the principle of setting baselines for each of the covered facilities based on emissions intensity, rather than absolute emissions. That meant the allowed baseline for a plant's emissions would rise or fall in line with increases or declines in a facility's production.
Baselines would be site-specific initially, then move toward industry average benchmarks by 2030, in line with calls from LNG exporters who said mechanisms to help them slash emissions, such as using carbon capture and storage, would only be available later this decade.
In response to industry requests, the government said it would consider a carbon border tariff to support companies competing against products from countries with weaker pollution curbs.
- Reuters