Within 48 hours we should know whether or not the Australian emissions trading bill will finally pass. It was a poor scheme to begin with and this week it has been even further watered down in the interests of the polluters. The government has struck a deal with the opposition conservative party in order to get it through, and this deal involves even further compromise of the environmental credibility of the scheme.

It  nearly doubles financial assistance to some emissions-intensive sectors, shields certain sectors from the price of carbon for longer, and promises to permanently exclude others.  However the conservative party is so divided on emissions trading and even climate change (a large handful are still public climate skeptics) that the deal struck last night has caused a leadership crisis, with a leadership vote expected to take place this afternoon. The bill would commit Australia to achieving a minimum of 5% reductions below 2000 levels by 2020, rising to 25% in the event of a strong international agreement. Both of these figures fall below the levels recommended of developed nations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as necessary to prevent dangerous levels of climate change. For this reason, along with many other design flaws such as unlimited access to international offsets, The Australian Green Party and several Australian green groups do not support the scheme in its current form.   
 
Australia may be a small fry in terms of its actual contribution to global emissions (approximately 2%,) yet its political significance is larger. Per head, its citizens are the highest emitters of greenhouse gasses on the planet, and it is currently the world’s largest exporter of coal. ClientEarth recognised the importance of Australia in the fight for climate change mitigation and has been assisting NGOs and the Australian Green senators develop legislative amendments that would bring the Australian scheme more in line with international best practice. We have also met with law makers including the Shadow Minister for Environment to caution against allowing inflexible legislation that will lock Australia in to inadequate reductions for the next decade, and to offer our solutions.

So it's all bad news Down Under?

Very nearly! But not quite: a couple of green amendments survived the deal-making process in some shape or form. One of the positive amendments agreed upon is the incorporation of voluntary action into the scheme. This has some potential to return ‘power to the people’ in helping reduce emissions.  Unlike in the EU scheme, the Australian proposal is now that emissions saved by household purchases of Green Power and other voluntary actions will be taken into account in the ratcheting down of annual caps – thereby allowing a desperately needed incentive for the public to ‘make a difference’ by changing their lifestyles and contributing to the possibility of exceeding national targets.   

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More information on ClientEarth's work in Australia

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