GREENHOUSE GAS MITIGATION – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Slash green tape to hit 2035 target

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Original article by Greg Brown, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Aug-25

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen is set to reveal the federal government’s 2035 carbon emissions reduction target in September. A group of Australian companies have joined forces under the Business For 75 banner to lobby the government, calling for an emissions target of at least 75 per cent. The Climate Change Authority is considering a target of 65-75 per cent, but the Business For 75 members contend that a target at the higher end of tis range would increase investment by $20bn a year. Bowen has indicated that the government may adopt a target range for reducing emissions, rather than a specific figure.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

Taking wind out of Bowen’s sails

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Original article by Paul Garvey, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Jul-25

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has revealed that the federal government will expand its capacity investment scheme by 25 per cent, to 40 gigawatts. However, analysis by Rystad Energy shows that no wind farm projects that will be part of the national electricity market commenced construction during the first six months of 2025. There were some new wind farm projects in Western Australia, which is not part of the NEM. Rystad has forecast that renewables will account for 64 per cent of the NEM’s energy by 2030, which is well below the government’s 82 per cent renewable energy target by this date. Government adviser Ross Garnaut has in turned warned that this target will be missed by a "big margin", even with an expanded capacity investment scheme.

CORPORATES
RYSTAD ENERGY AS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

PM urged to adopt 2035 emissions reduction target of 70pc

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-May-25

The federal government will decide its 2035 emissions reduction target later this year, based on advice from the Climate Change Authority. However, the Labor Environment Action Network’s convener Felicity Wade says the group wants the 2035 target to be at least 70 per cent lower than 2005 emission levels. Wade adds that the environment must be a top priority for Labor’s second term in office, while LEAN wants the government’s ­nature positive laws to be legislated within 12 months. There are already doubts as to whether Labor’s 2030 emissions reduction target is achievable.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LABOR ENVIRONMENT ACTION NETWORK

Utes win big reprieve on emissions

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Mar-24

The federal government’s revised fuel-efficiency standards for new vehicles were approved by cabinet on Monday. The changes follow consultation with the car industry, amid concerns that popular vehicles such as utes and SUVs could have been forced out of the Australian market under the original version of the National Vehicles Emissions Scheme. The scheme will impose annual emissions caps on small passenger cars and light commercial vehicles such as utes. However, heavy SUVs that use the same chassis and drivetrain as a ute will now be classified as light commercial vehicles; they were previously to have been classified as passenger vehicles, which would have attracted much stricter emissions caps.

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Coalition MPs snub 2035 target

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Jan-24

The Paris Agreement requires the federal government to finalise a 2035 emissions reduction target by February 2025. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under pressure to adopt a 2035 target of at least 70 per cent, and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has previously stated that the government’s 2035 target will be announced "in due course". Meanwhile, a number of Liberal and National MPs have cautioned Opposition leader Peter Dutton against taking an emissions reduction target to voters at the next election. Amongst other things, they are concerned that it would exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis, particularly for people in regional areas.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

BHP asks govt to narrow gap on Biden’s bill

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Original article by Jacob Greber, Mark Ludlow, Peter Ker, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 & 20 : 6-Mar-23

Allens partner Kate Axup says that Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has highlighted the need for the federal government to play a more active role in encouraging the development of an Australian hydrogen industry. BHP has used its pre-budget submission to urge Labor to adopt measures that will attract financing and boost local refining and manufacturing in the low-emissions technologies sector, while a spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen has labelled the IRA as a "game-changer for climate action and for clean energy supply chains, including hydrogen".

CORPORATES
ALLENS, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

Bowen considers import carbon tariff

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 11-Jan-23

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the federal government may be open to implementing a Carbon Border Adjustment Scheme along the lines of the one that will be introduced by the European Commission. Bowen says it is the right time for Australia to "cautiously" consider a tariff on imported products that have a large carbon footprint. However, such a scheme could potentially affect Australia’s key trading partners such as China, Japan and the US. Bowen says any decision on such a scheme will be not be made by July, when changes to the safeguard mechanism will take effect.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

Labor caps carbon price

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 11-Jan-23

Australia’s 215 biggest industrial polluters will be required to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 4.9 per cent annually between 2023 and 2030, under the federal government’s changes to the safeguard mechanism. The changes take effect on 1 July, and will apply to sectors such as mining, oil and gas, manufacturing and transport. The government will cap the carbon price for heavy emitters at $75 per tonne, although it will rise in line with the inflation rate. The government will also provide $600m from the Powering the Regions Fund to assist trade-­exposed businesses and regions to ­invest in technologies that will lower their carbon emissions.

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Renewables break records but lag target

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 & 14 : 4-Jan-23

New data shows that renewable energy’s share of the National Electricity Market reached a record high of 40.4 per cent in the December quarter. In contrast, coal-fired power generation fell to a record low of 55.5 per cent during the period. However, the rate of growth for renewables slowed from 21.6 per cent in 2021 to just 16.6 per cent in 2022. Dylan McConnell from the University of NSW says this rate of growth will need to almost double in order to achieve the federal government’s renewable energy target of 82 per cent by 2030.

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UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Climate change bill set to pass

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 3-Aug-22

The federal government’s climate bill may be put to a vote in the House of ­Representatives as early as ­Wednesday. The bill to enshrine a 43 per cent per cent emissions reduction target in law is expected to be passed after the Greens and teal independents pushed for amendments that are likely to be accepted by Labor. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has indicated that the Coalition will review its emissions reduction targets ahead of the next election. The Senate is likely to vote on the climate bill in September, with the government requiring the support of the Greens and at least one crossbencher.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA