Australia has passed new climate laws aimed at reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation will require 215 industrial facilities producing over 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually to reduce their emissions by approximately 5% each year. The new laws are central to Australia’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The country’s centre-left Labor government has predicted that the legislation will prevent 200 million tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere over the next decade. The laws have been described as signalling the end of Australia’s “climate wars” – a decade of political conflict which has prevented action on global warming.
The legislation mandates that aluminium smelters, coal mines, oil refineries and other major polluters must cut their emissions by 4.9% annually. The law is the first time that greenhouse gas reductions have been written into Australian legislation. The government secured the support of the left-wing Greens party for the Safeguard Mechanism, which sets a hard cap on emissions. The Greens had previously been sceptical about the government’s climate policies. Australia’s economy is heavily reliant on mining and coal exports, and the country is one of the world’s largest per capita emitters of carbon dioxide.
The country’s reputation as a laggard on climate change action has been challenged in recent years by a series of natural disasters including floods, bushfires and coral bleaching. The Labor government was elected last year on a platform of reversing the pro-fossil fuel policies of its conservative predecessor. Although many welcomed the new laws as a positive first step, experts warned that further action would be necessary to avoid dangerous climate change.
The Minerals Council of Australia has warned that compliance with the new legislation could lead to significant job losses in the mining industry. The Council has also argued that closures of facilities could damage the economy and push emissions reduction onto countries which are less able or willing to decarbonise. The 215 facilities covered by the legislation are responsible for almost 30% of Australia’s total emissions.