It could be part of the solution to the impasse over the safeguard mechanism. Even if it isn’t, the logic for it should be irresistible
What is the safeguard mechanism?The safeguard mechanism was introduced by the Coalition in 2016. It was promised to put a limit on greenhouse gas emissions from about 200 major industrial facilities.
The Coalition said companies that emitted above their baseline would have to buy carbon offsets or pay a penalty. In practice, facilities were allowed to change their baselines, few were penalised and industrial emissions continued to increase.It would set new baselines based on emissions intensity – how much a facility releases per unit of production. Baselines will be reduced by 4.9% a year.
Before going further we need to set out what we’re talking about. A climate trigger under national environment laws would force the government to consider the emissions damage of a big emitting project – a fossil fuel mine or industrial plant – when assessing whether they should go ahead. A climate trigger as part of the response to this could be designed in a number of ways. It could kick in for developments expected to emit above a certain level – the Greens have proposed 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year – or set an emissions intensity threshold based on how dirty production is regardless of scale. Or both.
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