Safeguard Mechanism will make inroads to help decarbonise Australia
Climate Friendly’s submission to the Government’s consultation on the Safeguard Mechanism, reflects our broad support of the proposed approach to reform. We appreciate the open process involved and welcome the opportunity to provide further context to our submission.
We believe the Australian Government can demonstrate clear climate leadership with some modest updates to the proposed reforms, which set and reduce baselines in a predictable and orderly way and will play a significant role in helping Australia achieve its climate targets and decarbonising the economy.
In parallel with genuine industrial emissions reductions, high integrity land-based carbon farming is vital as it is currently the only viable mechanism to draw down carbon at scale and put us on a pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5 ºC.
As Australia’s leading carbon farming partner to land managers, we know how the generation and trading of high integrity carbon credits make a significant contribution in helping businesses manage the transition and accounting of hard to abate emissions as one component of implementing comprehensive plans to avoid, reduce and minimise their emissions. Carbon farming has the added benefit of supporting nature repair and fostering sustainable land management practices in rural communities around Australia.
Our submission outlines key points that will ensure Safeguard reforms help industry reduce Australia’s emissions in line with national targets and international commitments.
We understand that the current 43% emissions reduction target is a floor and that the proposed Safeguard Mechanism provides a solid foundation to increase ambition and align with science-based targets to help achieve net zero by 2050.
The modest amendments we recommended within our submission include:
- Enhancing scheme coverage by legislating an annual reduction in liability thresholds
- Protections to ensure that organisations are avoiding, reducing and minimising emissions, as well as offsetting using high-integrity Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) as a transitional measure
- Introducing a climate trigger in the Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act to ensure the climate impact of any new industrial facilities is fully considered
Read our full submission here: Click here
