<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-flagship-climate-policy-failing-miserably-to-cut-actual-emissions-says-report/>
"A new report published this week has declared that Australia’s flagship
climate policy, the Safeguard Mechanism, “is failing miserably” to achieve its
goal of reducing dangerous greenhouse gas emissions due to its “overwhelming
reliance on carbon offsets.”
The Australia Institute report,
Safeguarding the Fossil Fuel Industry, has
been published in advance of the federal government’s review of the Safeguard
Mechanism, planned to get underway in the next financial year.
The Safeguard Mechanism, which applies to facilities that emit more than
100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e) in a year, was first
legislated in 2014 and has been in place since 2016, before being reformed in
2023 to reduce emissions at the country’s largest industrial facilities.
Australia’s highest greenhouse gas emitting facilities are required under the
Mechanism to reduce their emissions in line with Australia’s emission reduction
targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
In 2023–24 there were 219 Safeguard facilities covered across the mining,
manufacturing, transport, oil, gas, and waste sectors, which together produced
around 31 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.
But the report’s authors Fergus Green and Frances Medlock say the mechanism is
failing to drive real emissions reductions because it enables polluters to rely
on unlimited amounts of so-called ‘offsets’ to meet their obligations.
As was highlighted earlier this year by the Climate Change Authority – the
federal government’s own independent climate change advisory body – emissions
were “steady” compared to 2024, with a minor decline in gross emissions due
mainly to “permanent closures, decreased production, and temporary shutdowns”
and not any actual decarbonisation efforts.
Climate and energy consultant and founder of Naru Research Tim Baxter also
demonstrated earlier this year that, “once the impact of facilities entering
and exiting the scheme is excluded, aggregate annual emissions fell by less
than four-tenths of one percent (0.4%) between the first and second years of
the reformed scheme.”
“While millions of Australian homes and businesses are doing the right thing,
installing solar panels and batteries, and buying EVs, many of our biggest
polluters are using dodgy offsets to pollute more than ever,” said Dr Richard
Denniss, co-CEO of The Australia Institute.
“The Safeguard Mechanism’s main function was supposed to be to make our biggest
polluters pollute less. That is simply not happening.
“The scheme is undermining the overall goal of reducing real emissions because
it allows polluters to rely on an unlimited amount of carbon offsets. Under the
Safeguard Mechanism there is simply no obligation for big polluters to reduce
the actual levels of pollution.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
