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Greens leader Adam Bandt has today announced his party has struck a deal with Labor on the climate policy it took to the federal election.
The safeguard mechanism will now be able to pass through the Senate and become law, after weeks of concerns the Greens could destroy the proposal by refusing to back it.
The policy will require the country’s top 215 carbon dioxide emitters to cut pollution by five per cent per year through to 2030.
Mr Bandt and his party initially had concerns it could make the climate crisis worse.
‘With our significant amendments, the Greens will be voting to pass the bill and will back the regulations, but the fight against all new coal and gas continues,’ Mr Bandt said on Monday.
The government is seeking to pass the mechanism through parliament this week so the reforms can be in place by July.
Labor needs the support of the Greens plus two crossbenchers to get the bill through the Senate against coalition opposition.
The Greens have been calling for the government to stop all new coal and gas projects in return for their support for the bill.
Under the deal there will be a ceiling on gross greenhouse gas emissions, which won’t be able to exceed current pollution levels of 140 million tonnes a year, and there will be a decreasing cap over time.
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The bill will include a ‘pollution trigger’ that will require the climate change minister to test a new or expanded project’s impact on the hard cap and net carbon budgets.
If the assessment finds that the project would contribute to exceeding the cap or budget, the minister must consult and recalibrate the rules or impose conditions on new entrants.
As well, all new gas fields for export will need to be carbon neutral from day one.
The safeguard mechanism, which was initiated by the coalition government but is being overhauled by Labor, will apply to the country’s 215 biggest emitters and force them to reduce their emissions by 4.9 per cent each year.
Companies that aren’t able to meet the targets would be able to purchase carbon credits.
The policy is considered essential to achieving the climate target of 43 per cent emission reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2050.
Key crossbench senator David Pocock is also in talks with the government, voicing concerns about the overuse of carbon offsets under the plan.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
