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The Guardian, 26 October 2021:
There’s not a lot of good news, so for the sake of all our sanity, let’s start with the good news. The Morrison government has adopted a mid-century target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Now before anyone starts yelling – it is true that Australia already adopted that objective, more or less, when we signed the Paris agreement five years ago.
It is also true that the international climate conference Scott Morrison is about to attend in Glasgow is focused on 2030, not 2050, because the threat of global heating is urgent.
Net zero is, in fact, the bare minimum required for Australia to have any international credibility. But Morrison has landed a target that points Australia’s carbon-intensive economy tentatively in the direction of a necessary transition – and that really is a start. It would be churlish to say otherwise.
But sadly, that’s where our good news begins and ends. Morrison’s so-called mid-century plan has very little substantive content.
It really is extraordinary that we could spend the best part of a year tracking towards Tuesday’s pre-Glasgow crescendo – and land with a “plan” that is actually the status quo with some new speculative graphs.
But that’s exactly where we are. After the Coalition’s disgraceful, destructive decade – measured substantively, looking at proposed actions, not slogans – the government is still running to stay still, without any obvious remorse, introspection, or regret.
Let’s consider Tuesday’s omissions.
We weren’t told how much Morrison’s grand bargain with the Nationals will cost the country, either in dollars or in delayed ambition.…..
Could we please see the modelling underpinning the whole exercise? “Eventually,” the prime minister said, which schedules a release sometime between now and never…….
The concept the prime minister unfurled in the Blue Room at Parliament House on Tuesday was a whole-of-economy transition achieved by technology magic (with a safety valve of carbon offsets in the event that tech is not quite as magical as hoped).
Australia’s net zero strategy will be delivered by … wait for it … existing policy.
…...But Australia remains mired in the world of voluntary action, of carrots not sticks, not because that is the right thing to do, but because the Coalition remains a prisoner of its own weaponised nonsense, and it won’t give up the nonsense entirely until it is certain that telling the truth won’t cost it an election.
To give him due credit, Morrison is starting to decouple his political movement from the lies – the $100 lamb roasts and the Whyalla wipeout. The crushing narrative of cost and delay is slowly morphing in the direction of inexorability and opportunity.
But if the Coalition were to change course radically, it would be tantamount to an admission that a party of government in this country has traded the national interest for a handful of regional Queensland seats for the best part of a decade.
So we are asked to amble in the direction of this transition, whistling quietly to ourselves.......
Read the full article by The Guardian's political editor Katharine Murphy here.
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26 October 2021
Net zero by 2050 welcome but taxpayer not business remains key driver
The Carbon Market Institute (CMI) welcomes the federal government’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 and looks forward to further detail on the plan in addition to the slides presented at today's press conference, but is disappointed that the taxpayer rather than business will remain the main driver with $20 billion earmarked to underwrite the transition.
CMI noted that credits for climate action and offsets can provide important assistance in a transition to net-zero emissions and that Australia has credible systems of integrity and plans to expand them, but we need to have integrity in climate, energy and economic transition policy as well as integrity in the credits.
“While the 2050 net-zero emissions target is welcome, it appears the plan is a missed opportunity to use existing policies as a springboard to a technology and market investment approach that would have business not the taxpayer as the main driver of the plan”, said CMI CEO John Connor.
“Net zero by 2050 is the minimum entry ticket to the climate policy credibility and alone won’t fend off potential carbon tariffs and higher capital costs increasingly facing carbon intensive companies and countries. That will require stronger 2030 commitments, not just projections, and policies that enable business to take greater responsibility and guide future decarbonisation investments.”
“A policy that limits ambition to net zero by 2050 and positions the taxpayer as the main driver of decarbonisation is also a missed opportunity to fully leverage the investments and opportunities arising from state government and business actions, and position Australia as a leader in realising the opportunities of the transition to net-zero emissions.”
“Australia should be supporting 2030 emission reductions of at least 50% and make them part of the currency of international climate and trade negotiations, our nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement. The failure to convert strengthened emission reduction projections of up to 35% from 2005 levels resulting from stronger business and government actions into an even more ambitious NDC is a major missed opportunity.”
“Australia has existing climate policies that could be used as a springboard to increasing our ambition, including the federal government’s Safeguard Mechanism should be strengthened to catalyse the market’s transition to net zero emissions,” said Mr Connor.
The Safeguard Mechanism sets carbon pollution limits for businesses emitting more than 100,000 tonnes annually, but is currently delivering extremely limited results. The CMI, alongside the Business Council of Australia (BCA), is calling for Safeguard baselines to be reduced over time, with enforceable incentives to invest in pollution reduction. CMI’s recent survey revealed 79% of business respondents support reducing pollution limits set via the Safeguard Mechanism.
“CMI has supported key elements of the Technology Roadmap and, in the absence of policies to make business the main driver of emission reduction initiatives, the taxpayer will need to step up. However public investments, and the use of any offsets, should be aligned to supporting the infrastructure and community transition assistance needed to decarbonise by at least 50% by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“CMI welcomes continuing government support for delivering natural and geological carbon sequestration in Australia and the Indo-Pacific region, we do have a world leading system of integrity in developing credits for carbon reduction and offsets. However, we must also have integrity in the transition and that requires a clearer pathway with greater interim targets.
“Carbon farming is already providing substantial additional revenue streams for landholders and investment in regional Australia and there is significant potential to expand its contributions but it should come with a credible decarbonisation pathways and policies.
“The federal government’s announcement today included little detail on policy or modelling undertaken and many aspects of what was announced are already known. We look forward to further clarity on its pending update of the Technology Investment Roadmap and other dimensions of its plans to address climate change and catalyse the inevitable global transition to a net-zero emissions economy”, said John Connor.
Distributed by Medianet
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Australian Prime Minister Scott John Morrison, 26 October 2021:
“Australia's plan to reach our net zero target by 2050. The Morrison Government will act in a practical, responsible way to deliver net zero emissions by 2050 while preserving Australian jobs and generating new opportunities for industries and regional Australia….
The Australian way. Australians want action on climate change. And so do I. But they also don’t want their electricity bills to skyrocket, the lights to go off, for their jobs to be put at risk or for the way of life in rural and regional communities to be sacrificed…..”
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“Australia’s Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan: A whole-of-economy plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050”, released 26 October 2021 can be found at:
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🇬🇧 UK 2050 plan? 21 docs. 1868 pages. Heat & building strategy. Heat pump grants. EV incentives. End gas boilers by 2035, ICE sales by 2030! Treasury reviewed. CCC approved. Pathways for every sector to 2037. Legally binding. 5 year targets.
— Mike Cannon-Brookes 👨🏼💻🧢🇦🇺 (@mcannonbrookes) October 26, 2021
🇦🇺 Aus? No plan. Just more bullshit.
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