The Environment Minister in Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government, Greg Hunt, has launched a vigorous defence of the coalition’s Direct Action climate scheme.
Mr Hunt has argued that similar policies are used around the world and that the government’s proposed emissions reduction fund will offer low-cost emissions cuts.
As debate on the carbon price repeal bill began in the upper house Senate ahead of a potential vote in the final two weeks of parliament, Mr Hunt said the repeal would deliver a Christmas bonus to families.
In a paper delivered today to Carbon Expo Australia in the Victorian state capital, Melbourne, Mr Hunt hit back at critics of the coalition’s Direct Action scheme.
Mr Hunt indicated to the conference that there was reasonable expectation that abatement providers under Direct Action’s Emissions Reduction Fund would be offered five-year contracts.
The minister also indicated that project proponents could create abatement credits that would go beyond five years, giving reassurance to potential bidders.
The recognition of such credits beyond that time could come in the form of an extension of government contracts, or an expansion or altering of the scheme, although the minister was not drawn on any of these.
Mr Hunt also said that the government would ensure Australian carbon credits under the scheme would be able to be converted into international credits.
His statement raised the prospect of linking credits to the European Union’s emissions trading scheme, but again the minister was not drawn on details.
Mr Hunt also said the government would consider regulatory measures to set emissions standards and energy efficiency goals, if industry came forward with such a proposal.
Numerous critics argue the so far little explained scheme cannot achieve the necessary emissions reductions and will be more expensive than a carbon price.
Critics argue that emissions trading schemes (ETS) offer the lowest cost abatement but Mr Hunt pointed to international direct action activities to bolster the case for his plan, declaring he is discussing the “world that is, not how some would imagine it to be”.
Mr Hunt argued that there are a variety of active international approaches to directly reducing emissions, citing the Norwegian Carbon Procurement Program, which purchases abatement credits worth millions of dollars through a tender process.
Mr Hunt also cited Japan’s Joint Credit Mechanism, which will purchase direct abatement and fund bilateral agreements with development countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Laos, Kenya, the Maldives, Mongolia and Vietnam.
He argues that the UN Clean Development Mechanism, which also sells permits into ETS, acts as an abatement procurement scheme.
He cited European, United States and Canadian vehicle emissions standards that are reducing the amount of carbon dioxide from motor vehicles.
Mr Hunt said the Emissions Reduction Fund, which is a centre piece of the Direct Action plan, offers significant opportunities to cut carbon pollution.
For example, he said there were significant abatement opportunities in making electric motors more efficient.
He said that half of Australia’s electricity passes through an electric motor and the International Energy Agency (IEA) believed it was possible to improve the energy efficiency of motor systems by roughly 20 to 30 per cent, using technology that already exists.
“There are massive opportunities to reduce energy use and emissions from targeting the upgrade of just one type of industrial system,” Mr Hunt said.
Labor Party opposition leader Bill Shorten said Labor wanted to ensure Australia was not “left doing nothing on pollution”.
“We have said that we would vote to repeal the carbon price and replace it with something that works genuinely to tackle the challenge of carbon pollution,” he told the ABC radio.
