Climate change could cost Australia hundreds of billions, but there is no active climate policy in the near future

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Since the so-called Black Summers of 2019 and 2020, when devastating bushfires ravaged much of the country, a growing number of Australians have become aware of the dangers of climate change. It is no coincidence that the national elections that took place a year and a half ago were renamed “Climate Elections”. After more than nine years of conservative governments and no action to combat climate change, the majority of the population has chosen parties that put climate action first. More than half of voters have expressed deep concern about climate change and have tasked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s new Labor government with pursuing more ambitious climate policies.

And the Social Democratic government had to act actively. And in June 2022, it mandated a law to reduce carbon dioxide by up to 43 percent in 2030.₂ Emissions should be compared to 2005. This was a significant adjustment from previous governments, which capped carbon dioxide₂It promised a reduction of 26 to 28 percent. But despite the tightening of the target, emissions have increased since 2021. Measures to offset emissions have been widely criticized.

Planting trees

Since July, Australia’s 215 largest emitters have been required to reduce their emissions by 5 per cent annually. The new law has been hailed as a major step in Australian climate policy. But companies have also been given the opportunity to offset emissions, for example, by planting trees – a controversial system. According to those in charge of creating this system, the number of trees has only increased slightly. One whistleblower called it “politics”. “fraudulent” and “a waste of nearly A$1 billion”. [ruim 590 miljoen euro] tax money.”

Nearly a year and a half after the election, hope for a groundbreaking climate policy among many experts has evaporated. Polly Hemming, Head of the Climate and Energy Program at the Australian Research Institute of Australia: “There is always Save the flags Pointing out that the Labor Party has not been sincere about its climate ambition. Even before the election, Albanese said he was in favor of opening new coal mines. If you continue to support and fund fossil fuels, you can have a nice talk about climate ambition. But it doesn’t matter how much sugar you add if you’re making a cake with rotten eggs.”

The fossil fuel industry pays almost no taxes. Profits go abroad

Polly Hemming Head of the Department of Climate and Energy at the Australian Institute of Research

Hemming has written several papers on climate policy in Australia for a progressive and politically independent think tank. It is clear that little has changed compared to the policies of the previous Conservative government. Only this government has to work harder to justify this flawed policy. It is a political form of Green wash“.

Australian Climate Minister Chris Bowen called it “irresponsible” to ban new coal and natural gas projects, as the industry is essential to the Australian economy. But according to Hemming, continued subsidies for fossil fuel projects are actually an economic risk. “The fossil industry pays almost no taxes. Profits go abroad. It creates few jobs. The natural gas industry employs about 20,000 people in Australia. For comparison, McDonald’s employs about 100,000 people.

Quietly approved

Introducing the government’s report on Climate Change to 2063, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jim Chalmers focused on what he sees as opportunities for his country to become a “sustainable energy superpower”. Demand for precious metals is expected to grow by 350 per cent until 2040. Australia has already done so. The largest producer of lithium in the world The demand for this raw material will increase in the coming decades. Hemming: That’s great, but he’s not saying he wants that instead of fossil fuels. The government wants to become a sustainable energy superpower and continue to export fossil fuels.”

fossil industry It receives about A$11 billion (more than €6.5 billion) in subsidies each year from the federal and state governments. Australia is Third largest source of fossil fuelsand ref The second largest exporter of coal in the world.

The government recently banned a coal mine from opening near the endangered Great Barrier Reef, but Hemming says the ban has been propagated. “Banning that mine was one without thinking. It is absurd to agree to build a coal mine so close to a coral reef.”

Meanwhile, other less important coal and natural gas projects are being quietly approved. Hemming: There are still over a hundred new coal and natural gas projects in development. If it continues, that would mean 4.8 billion tons of additional emissions in 2030.