The Environment Minister in Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government, Greg Hunt, has revealed the government aims to cut carbon emissions without a carbon price by finding the lowest cost options.
However, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has immediately dismissed his plan as “simply insufficient”.
The government’s Emissions Reduction Fund Green Paper, aims for pollution cuts that are simply insufficient, the ACF said.
AAP Newsagency reports Mr Hunt unveiled the coalition government’s plan for combating climate change with the Emissions Reduction Fund to be the main way it plans to cut emissions by five per cent by 2020.
The Five per cent target has come in for increasing criticism as being inadequate and is substantially below the target set by many other countries.
“This is our positive plan to reduce emissions without a carbon tax,” he said in the Victorian state capital, Melbourne.
The $1.5 billion fund is a key part of the coalition government’s Direct Action Plan to cut emissions and address climate change once it succeeds in abolishing the previous Labor government’s carbon price scheme.
Moves by the Liberal-National government to abolish the current fixed price Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have been blocked in the upper house Senate by the Labor Party and the Australian Greens Party, which hold the balance of power.
Mr Hunt said the government would seek and find the lowest cost emissions reductions wherever they were.
They must also be genuine emission reductions and comply with international obligations, he said.
Mr Hunt said there would be credits for genuine emissions reductions, and the government would then buy the lowest cost abatement.
He said the purchasing mechanism would be market-based.
“It’s not a tax, it’s not a massive cost to families,” he said.
The mechanism will be funded until 2020 with initial allocations of $300 million, $500 million and $750 million over forward estimates, with the emissions reductions fund to begin next July.
Mr Hunt said businesses would not be punished for conducting business as usual.
“Instead of a system which penalises businesses for business as usual, which imposes a massive electricity tax, and massive electricity hike on families, this will take the pressure off businesses for their operations as usual and will take the pressure off families.
“But it will make sure that we have the capacity to deal with any rogue activities.”
The system would dramatically reduce emissions and meet Australia’s targets, he said.
It will work by creating forward contracts so there will be the security of a contract to allow businesses to invest in energy efficiency, he said.
There will also be a safeguarding of the system to ensure emissions are real and Australia is achieving its targets.
Mr Hunt said the coalition would continue in its bid to repeal the carbon price laws, despite contrary efforts by Labor and Australian Greens senators.
Under updated Australian abatement forecasts, Australia will have to achieve 431 million tons of emission reduction between 2014 and 2020, he said.
A white paper outlining the final design of the ERF will be released early in 2014.
“The ERF is at the heart of the government’s ‘direct action’ plan to tackle climate change, yet this Green Paper aims for pollution cuts of only five per cent, far below what is required if we are to keep global warming within safe limits,” said Jamie Hanson, climate campaigner with ACF.
“There is no contingency for any situation where Australia cuts pollution by more than five per cent.
“There are two problems with this policy: there is no legal limit on pollution, and the targets it assumes are simply far too low to satisfy our international obligations.
“These aren’t targets, they’re wishes.
“All independent modelling shows that this policy will not cut pollution by anywhere near the levels required.
“What Australians need to see are policies that cut pollution in line with our commitments to other cuts.
The Emissions Reduction Fund won’t achieve that, but our existing laws can,” Mr Hanson said.
