Australia is cutting climate pollution, but our progress is lopsided. Households and the renewable energy sector are making strong progress. But the first two years of data show the reformed Safeguard Mechanism delivering 0.4% in genuine cuts at continuing facilities, rising pollution from fossil fuel facilities, and a 49% jump in offset and credit use in a single year.
This review is the opportunity to fix that. The Climate Council urges Government to align the scheme with the top of Australia’s 2035 target range, to set decline rates that reflect each sector’s capacity to cut pollution, to phase offsets down so that genuine cuts take their place, to make price signals stronger and more predictable, and apply fair rules to all new, expanded and extended projects – including zero baselines for new and expanding fossil fuel projects.
These reforms would better protect Australians from escalating climate harm, deliver a fairer and more effective mechanism, set Australian industry on a path to permanently cut its pollution, and secure the clean industries that will underpin Australia’s prosperity.
