‘Climate wars’: Australia caps major fossil fuel polluters
New laws signal the end of Australias decade of political brawling that repeatedly derailed attempts to tackle its contribution to global warming. Australias parliament has passed breakthrough climate laws targeting the nations worst polluters, forcing coal mines and oil refineries to curb emissions by about 5 percent each year. The laws apply to 215 major industrial facilities each producing more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year and form the backbone of Australias pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Experts on Thursday said the laws signalled the end of Australias bitter climate wars a decade of political brawling that has repeatedly derailed attempts to tackle the countrys contribution to global warming. With the new legislation, the countrys centre-left Labor government has forecast it can stop 200 million tonnes of carbon from being pumped into the atmosphere over the next decade. What the parliament has done today is safeguard our climate, safeguard our economy, and safeguard our future, Australias Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen told lawmakers. What the parliament has done today is brought an end to 10 years of dysfunction and 10 years of delay. Aluminium smelters, coal mines, oil refineries and other large polluters will be forced to cut their emissions by 4.9 percent each year. Its the first time greenhouse gas emissions reduction has been written into Australian law, said University of New South Wales sustainability expert Tommy Wiedmann. Thats obviously a good thing. We have a climate policy now. In the weeks ahead of the vote, the government struck a deal on the so-called Safeguard Mechanism after engaging in high-stakes bargaining with the left-wing Greens party. The previously sceptical Greens, whose support was needed to pass the laws, agreed to back the carbon plan after persuading the government to put a hard cap on emissions. Greens leader Adam Bandt said the move compelled oil and gas corporations to slash their emissions for the first time ever in law. Australias economy is fuelled by mining and coal exports, and it is among the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide per capita in the world. For years, Australia had the reputation of being a laggard on global action to stop climate change. But a series of severe natural disasters helped convince the countrys leaders to take the climate emergency seriously. Heavy storms in 2022 caused catastrophic floods on Australias east coast, in which more than 20 people died. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020 burned more than eight million hectares (19.7 million acres) of native vegetation, while marine heatwaves caused mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses Labor government swept to power last year promising to change the pro-fossil fuel stance of the previous decade-old conservative government. Although many praised the laws as a crucial first step, sustainability expert Wiedmann warned Australia could not rest on its laurels. Its not enough on its own to reduce emissions and avoid dangerous climate change, he said. The hard decisions will come in the next few years. Murdoch University sustainability expert Martin Brueckner said the plan ended Australias climate stalemate and gave a strong signal to businesses. It pretty much pushes climate denialists in a corner. We had a lot of market investment uncertainty over the last 10 years under the poorly defined climate policy, he said. Having made that first policy step as small as it may be I think it paves the way for more progressive policies to follow. Australias mining industry has warned the financial burden of compliance could lead to massive job losses. If we are not careful, some facilities in Australia will close, the Minerals Council of Australia said before the laws passed. Not only would that damage our economy and slash tens of thousands of regional jobs and billions in investment, it also would push the emissions reduction burden onto other nations that are less able or less willing to decarbonise. Global mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP operate a number of mines and smelters that will be forced to make emissions cuts. Australias Climate Council has estimated the 215 facilities are responsible for almost 30 percent of the countrys total emissions.