Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
Encyclopedia
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (or CPRS) was a proposed cap-and-trade system of emissions trading
for anthropogenic greenhouse gas
es, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government
, as part of its climate change
policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia
. The policy began when the Australian Labor Party
was in opposition and the six Labor-controlled states commissioned an independent review on energy policy, the Garnaut Climate Change Review
, which published a number of reports. Labor, after winning the federal election and forming a government, published a Green paper for discussion and comment. The Federal Treasury then modelled some of the financial and economic impacts of the proposed scheme. The Rudd Government published a final white paper on 15 December 2008. The Government announced that the legislation was intended to take effect in July 2010 and the legislation for the CPRS (aka ETS) failed to gain adequate support and was twice rejected creating a double dissolution
election trigger. After a bitter political debate which saw former opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull
lose his leadership of the opposition to the anti-CPRS Tony Abbott
, the CPRS idea was dubbed "a great big new tax". The Rudd government did not call an election and the CPRS lost public support. In April 2010, Labor then deferred the CPRS.
on 30 April 2007, while Prime Minister John Howard
announced his own plan for a carbon trading scheme on 4 June 2007, after the final report of the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading
. Labor won the election on 24 November.
, issued on 4 July, was only one of many inputs into the policy-making process. The Labor government also issued a "Green Paper
" on 16 July 2008 that described the intended design of the carbon trading scheme.
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, was a market-based approach to greenhouse gas pollution
, to be implemented in 2010 (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 9). The main concern for the Australian government
was getting the design of such a scheme correct, so that it would have complemented the integrated economic policy framework, and would have been consistent with the Government’s commercial strategy (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 10).
The objective of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was to meet Australia’s emissions reduction targets in the most flexible and cost-effective way; to support an effective global response to climate change; and to provide for transitional assistance for the most affected households and firms (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 14).
The basis of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a cap and trade system
, and was a way of limiting greenhouse gas pollution
, as well as giving individuals and businesses incentives to reduce their emissions (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 11). The Australian Government would have set a cap on carbon emissions, consistent with longer term goals of reducing Australia’s emissions by 60% compared with 2000 levels by 2050 (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 11).
There were two definite elements of the cap and trade scheme: the cap itself, and the ability to trade (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). The cap is the limit on greenhouse gas emissions imposed by the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. The system aims at achieving the environmental outcome of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the idea being that capping emissions creates a price for carbon and the ability to trade ensures that emissions are reduced at the lowest possible price (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). Setting a limit means that the right to emit greenhouse gases becomes scarce, and scarcity entails a price. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme would have put a price on carbon in a systematic way throughout the economy (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13).
The ‘covered’ sectors are sources of emissions subject to the cap, which were specified in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). After setting the cap, the Government would have then issued permits that are equal to the cap. The Green Paper gives the example “if the cap were to limit emissions to 100 million tonnes of CO2-e in a particular year, 100 million ‘permits’ would be issued that year” (2008, 12). For every tonne of emissions emitted, a source of emissions would have been required to acquire and surrender a permit (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). About one thousand firms were expected to have obligations from the Scheme.
The price of emissions would increase the cost of those goods and services that are most emissions-intensive (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13). This means that there will be a change across the prices of goods and services across the economy, reflecting how emission-intensive the goods or service is. That therefore provides businesses and consumers with incentives to use and invest in low-emissions technologies.
The second essential element of a cap and trade scheme is the ability to trade. Since carbon pollution permits will be tradable, the price of permits will be determined by the market (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13). The main idea behind this part of the scheme is that a firm who can undertake abatement more cheaply than the permit price will do so, and that a company will pay for permits if the cost to it of lowering its emissions exceeds the cost of the permits. By trading among themselves, firms achieve the scheme cap at the least cost to the economy (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13).
The cap would only achieve the desired environmental objectives if it is enforced. This means that firms responsible for emissions covered by the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme must monitor their emissions and report them accurately to government (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). The reported emissions data would need to be monitored and verified.
The Treasury’s modeling demonstrated that early global action to reduce carbon emissions would be less expensive than later action and stated that a market-based approach allows robust economic growth into the future as emissions fall.
The report also stated that:
as needing to be made by developed countries to keep CO2 below 450 ppm and to have a reasonable chance of keeping global warming at less than a 2 degree Celsius increase above pre-industrial times.
The White Paper also set an indicative national emissions trajectory for the first few years of the scheme:
For comparison, in 2006, Australia's emissions were 104% of 2000 levels (under Kyoto accounting).
Some of the features of the emissions trading scheme proposed were:
The national Climate Action Summit of 500 participants representing 140 climate groups Australia wide has condemned the CPRS and agreed to campaign to prevent it becoming law. Major concerns included announced targets, granting of property rights to pollute and providing free permits to major polluters. Summit participants were joined by 2,000 other people in surrounding parliament house to express dissatisfaction with the Rudd Government climate change policies.
Professor Andy Pitman described the targets as inadequate.
Professor Barry Brook, the Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at the University of Adelaide, stated that "the 14% cut in our total emissions by 2020 announced today is such a pitifully inadequate attempt to stop dangerous climate change that we may as well wave the white flag now."
Dr Regina Betz, Joint Director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets at UNSW, stated "The proposed 2020 targets of emission reductions of 5 to 15% are, according to the climate science, entirely inadequate for an equitable global response to avoid dangerous global warming
."
Dr Frank Jotzo, deputy director of the ANU Climate Change Institute, and former advisor to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, said "ruling out a 25% reduction is a mistake, since Australia's overwhelming interest is strong global climate action. An international agreement with deep cuts has just become a little bit more unlikely, as a result of Australia not putting a compatible offer on the table" and "the Treasury modelling has shown that even deep cuts won't carry big economic costs for Australia, if the policies are sound."
Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout said the scheme was "a big ask and will have a big impact on the Australian economy" and estimated it would add about $7 billion to business costs by 2010.
Dr Hugh Saddler, Managing Director of Energy Strategies Pty Ltd, stated "the white paper does not include measures to reduce emissions from the major non-energy sectors such as agriculture and land clearing. While it is a good decision not to include these emission sources within the CPRS, it is essential that there be other strong programs specifically directed at these sectors."
Mitch Hooke, the boss of the Minerals Council of Australia, said his organisation was "profoundly disappointed that the white paper was not better aligned with progress towards a global agreement on reduction commitments, new low emissions technologies and emissions trading schemes in other countries"
South Africa's environment minister, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk
, has described the scheme as an inadequate "opening bid", and warned that it is not "nearly good enough to bring developing countries to the table".
Professor Ross Garnaut
, previously an adviser to the Government on climate change, 'damned' the Rudd Government's carbon policy because of the gross over-compensation of coal fired electricity generators; the possibility of taking 25% emission reduction targets off the table when they are in Australia's best interest; the lack of a principled basis for support of trade-exposed industries and the potential threat to public finances of the proposed compensation to industry.
The United Nations climate negotiator Yvo de Boer told ABC Radio "Australia's now put a figure on the table, something countries have been calling for for a long time".
Gerard Henderson
, the former Chief-of-Staff to John Howard
, has described Rudd's emissions targets as "responsible".
After changes announced in May 2009, some business and environment groups announced that the CPRS, although weak, was now worth supporting.
election.
On 27 April 2010, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the Government has decided to delay the implementation of the CPRS until after the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol
(which ends in 2012). The Government cited the lack of bipartisan support for the CPRS and slow international progress on climate action for the delay. The Prime Minister announced that the CPRS would be introduced only when there is greater clarity on the actions of other major economies including the US, China and India.
In June 2010, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
, Peter Garrett
, told Sky News Australia
that he first learned of the scrapping of the CPRS when he read about it in a newspaper after being leak
ed by a Government source.
The delay on implementation of the CPRS drew some strong criticism of Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party from the Federal Opposition and from community and grassroots action groups such as GetUp
.
On 5 April 2011, the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, stated that he believed it had been a mistake to delay the ETS during his term as Prime Minister of Australia
.
In February 2011, Gillard Government
announced the Clean Energy Bill, 2011
, an emissions trading scheme in Australia to replace the CPRS.
Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
for anthropogenic greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
es, due to be introduced in Australia in 2010 by the Rudd government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
, as part of its climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
policy. It marked a major change in the energy policy of Australia
Energy policy of Australia
Energy policy of Australia describes the energy policy in the politics of Australia. Energy in Australia describes energy and electricity production, consumption and export/import in Australia...
. The policy began when the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
was in opposition and the six Labor-controlled states commissioned an independent review on energy policy, the Garnaut Climate Change Review
Garnaut Climate Change Review
The Garnaut Climate Change Review was a study by Professor Ross Garnaut, commissioned by then Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd and by the Australian State and Territory Governments on 30 April 2007...
, which published a number of reports. Labor, after winning the federal election and forming a government, published a Green paper for discussion and comment. The Federal Treasury then modelled some of the financial and economic impacts of the proposed scheme. The Rudd Government published a final white paper on 15 December 2008. The Government announced that the legislation was intended to take effect in July 2010 and the legislation for the CPRS (aka ETS) failed to gain adequate support and was twice rejected creating a double dissolution
Double dissolution
A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
election trigger. After a bitter political debate which saw former opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
lose his leadership of the opposition to the anti-CPRS Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
, the CPRS idea was dubbed "a great big new tax". The Rudd government did not call an election and the CPRS lost public support. In April 2010, Labor then deferred the CPRS.
History
In the election year of 2007, both the Liberal-led Coalition government and the Labor opposition promised to introduce carbon trading. Opposition leader Rudd commissioned the Garnaut Climate Change ReviewGarnaut Climate Change Review
The Garnaut Climate Change Review was a study by Professor Ross Garnaut, commissioned by then Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd and by the Australian State and Territory Governments on 30 April 2007...
on 30 April 2007, while Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
announced his own plan for a carbon trading scheme on 4 June 2007, after the final report of the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading
Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading
On 10 December 2006, the Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced the establishment of the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading...
. Labor won the election on 24 November.
Green Paper
The draft Garnaut ReportGarnaut Climate Change Review
The Garnaut Climate Change Review was a study by Professor Ross Garnaut, commissioned by then Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd and by the Australian State and Territory Governments on 30 April 2007...
, issued on 4 July, was only one of many inputs into the policy-making process. The Labor government also issued a "Green Paper
Green paper
In the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and the United States a green paper is a tentative government report of a proposal without any commitment to action; the first step in changing the law...
" on 16 July 2008 that described the intended design of the carbon trading scheme.
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, was a market-based approach to greenhouse gas pollution
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
, to be implemented in 2010 (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 9). The main concern for the Australian government
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
was getting the design of such a scheme correct, so that it would have complemented the integrated economic policy framework, and would have been consistent with the Government’s commercial strategy (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 10).
The objective of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was to meet Australia’s emissions reduction targets in the most flexible and cost-effective way; to support an effective global response to climate change; and to provide for transitional assistance for the most affected households and firms (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 14).
The basis of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a cap and trade system
Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
, and was a way of limiting greenhouse gas pollution
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
, as well as giving individuals and businesses incentives to reduce their emissions (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 11). The Australian Government would have set a cap on carbon emissions, consistent with longer term goals of reducing Australia’s emissions by 60% compared with 2000 levels by 2050 (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 11).
There were two definite elements of the cap and trade scheme: the cap itself, and the ability to trade (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). The cap is the limit on greenhouse gas emissions imposed by the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. The system aims at achieving the environmental outcome of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the idea being that capping emissions creates a price for carbon and the ability to trade ensures that emissions are reduced at the lowest possible price (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). Setting a limit means that the right to emit greenhouse gases becomes scarce, and scarcity entails a price. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme would have put a price on carbon in a systematic way throughout the economy (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13).
The ‘covered’ sectors are sources of emissions subject to the cap, which were specified in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). After setting the cap, the Government would have then issued permits that are equal to the cap. The Green Paper gives the example “if the cap were to limit emissions to 100 million tonnes of CO2-e in a particular year, 100 million ‘permits’ would be issued that year” (2008, 12). For every tonne of emissions emitted, a source of emissions would have been required to acquire and surrender a permit (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). About one thousand firms were expected to have obligations from the Scheme.
The price of emissions would increase the cost of those goods and services that are most emissions-intensive (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13). This means that there will be a change across the prices of goods and services across the economy, reflecting how emission-intensive the goods or service is. That therefore provides businesses and consumers with incentives to use and invest in low-emissions technologies.
The second essential element of a cap and trade scheme is the ability to trade. Since carbon pollution permits will be tradable, the price of permits will be determined by the market (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13). The main idea behind this part of the scheme is that a firm who can undertake abatement more cheaply than the permit price will do so, and that a company will pay for permits if the cost to it of lowering its emissions exceeds the cost of the permits. By trading among themselves, firms achieve the scheme cap at the least cost to the economy (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 13).
The cap would only achieve the desired environmental objectives if it is enforced. This means that firms responsible for emissions covered by the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme must monitor their emissions and report them accurately to government (Department of Climate Change, 2008, 12). The reported emissions data would need to be monitored and verified.
Treasury report on the economics of climate change mitigation
The Australian Treasury's report on the economics of climate change mitigation was released on 30 October 2008. The report was a key input in determining the structure and targets for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.The Treasury’s modeling demonstrated that early global action to reduce carbon emissions would be less expensive than later action and stated that a market-based approach allows robust economic growth into the future as emissions fall.
The report also stated that:
- many of Australia’s industries would maintain or improve their competitiveness under an international agreement to combat climate change
- even ambitious goals would have limited impact on national and global economic growth
- Australia and the world can continue to prosper while making the emission cuts required to reduce the risks of dangerous climate change.
- Households would face increased prices for emission-intensive products such as electricity and gas, however real household income would continue to grow.
- Strong coordinated global action would reduce the economic cost of achieving environmental objectives, reduce distortions in trade-exposed sectors, and provide insurance against climate change uncertainty.
- There are advantages to Australia acting early if emission pricing expands gradually across the world: economies that defer action face higher long-term costs, as global investment is redirected to early movers.
- Australia’s aggregate economic costs of mitigation are small, although the costs to sectors and regions vary. Growth in emission-intensive sectors slows and growth in low- and negative-emission sectors accelerates.
- Allocation of some free permits to emission-intensive trade-exposed sectors, as the Government proposes, eases their transition to a low-emission economy in the initial years.
- Broadly based market-oriented policies, such as emissions trading, allow the market to respond as new information becomes available.
White Paper
The White Paper was released on 15 December 2008. The White Paper included the Rudd Labor government's targets for Greenhouse gas emission reductions, 5% below 2000 by 2020 on a unilateral basis or up to 15% below 2000 by 2020 if also agreed by the other major emitters. This compares to the 25 to 40% cut compared to 1990 emissions recommended by the IPCCIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
as needing to be made by developed countries to keep CO2 below 450 ppm and to have a reasonable chance of keeping global warming at less than a 2 degree Celsius increase above pre-industrial times.
The White Paper also set an indicative national emissions trajectory for the first few years of the scheme:
- in 2010-11, 109% of 2000 levels;
- in 2011-12, 108% of 2000 levels;
- in 2012-13, 107% of 2000 levels.
For comparison, in 2006, Australia's emissions were 104% of 2000 levels (under Kyoto accounting).
Some of the features of the emissions trading scheme proposed were:
- an output as opposed to consumption based scheme
- A modelled carbon price range of AUD 20 to AUD 40 per tonne of carbon.
- Less than 1,000 businesses will have to account for their emissions and buy or be allocated free permits.
- AUD 4.8 billion of assistance (in the form of free permits) for the most polluting electricity generators.
- Financial assistance to compensate low and middle income families from increased costs.
- Free permits to emissions-intensive, trade-exposed businesses - such as aluminium producers, iron and steel makers, petrol refiners and LNG producers, initially totaling 25% to 33% of permits and rising to 45% by 2020.
- There will be total offset of the impact on fuel prices on households for 3 years.
- Agricultural emissions are not included initially but may be included from 2015.
- There will be a price cap on emissions, that will start at AUD 40 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent.
- Firms will be able to purchase unlimited quantities of emissions allocations (including CERs under the clean development mechanismClean Development MechanismThe Clean Development Mechanism is one of the "flexibility" mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol . It is defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, and is intended to meet two objectives: to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the...
) from the international market, but will not be able to sell them during the initial years. - Reforestation can count as carbon credit, but deforestation and forest degradation do not count as a liability.
Criticism
Criticism of the targets
Several organisations criticised the choice of emission reduction targets in the CPRS. Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, the Wilderness Society and the Climate Institute were joined by the Greens and other environmentalists in calling for more ambitious 2020 targets of 25 to 45 per cent reductions.Professor Andy Pitman described the targets as inadequate.
Professor Barry Brook, the Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at the University of Adelaide, stated that "the 14% cut in our total emissions by 2020 announced today is such a pitifully inadequate attempt to stop dangerous climate change that we may as well wave the white flag now."
Dr Regina Betz, Joint Director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets at UNSW, stated "The proposed 2020 targets of emission reductions of 5 to 15% are, according to the climate science, entirely inadequate for an equitable global response to avoid dangerous global warming
Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change
The related terms "avoiding dangerous climate change" and "preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" date to 1995 and earlier, in the Second Assesment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change and previous science it cites.In 2002, the United Nations...
."
Dr Frank Jotzo, deputy director of the ANU Climate Change Institute, and former advisor to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, said "ruling out a 25% reduction is a mistake, since Australia's overwhelming interest is strong global climate action. An international agreement with deep cuts has just become a little bit more unlikely, as a result of Australia not putting a compatible offer on the table" and "the Treasury modelling has shown that even deep cuts won't carry big economic costs for Australia, if the policies are sound."
Industry criticism
Australian industrialists were concerned about cost impacts. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said his members were "apprehensive" about the scheme because it was "too risky" and warned the costs would be borne not only by emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries but also by "small and medium businesses through higher energy costs and the flow-on from restructuring of larger industries".Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout said the scheme was "a big ask and will have a big impact on the Australian economy" and estimated it would add about $7 billion to business costs by 2010.
Other criticism
Other sources of criticism included concerns over coverage of agriculture, impacts on the minerals sector and implications for international agreements.Dr Hugh Saddler, Managing Director of Energy Strategies Pty Ltd, stated "the white paper does not include measures to reduce emissions from the major non-energy sectors such as agriculture and land clearing. While it is a good decision not to include these emission sources within the CPRS, it is essential that there be other strong programs specifically directed at these sectors."
Mitch Hooke, the boss of the Minerals Council of Australia, said his organisation was "profoundly disappointed that the white paper was not better aligned with progress towards a global agreement on reduction commitments, new low emissions technologies and emissions trading schemes in other countries"
South Africa's environment minister, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk
Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk is the Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Africa. Formerly both Premier of the Western Cape and Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Africa, he was the leader of the New National Party from its inception on 8 September 1997 until...
, has described the scheme as an inadequate "opening bid", and warned that it is not "nearly good enough to bring developing countries to the table".
Professor Ross Garnaut
Ross Garnaut
Ross Gregory Garnaut AO is a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Australian National University and both a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Fellow of Economics at The University of Melbourne....
, previously an adviser to the Government on climate change, 'damned' the Rudd Government's carbon policy because of the gross over-compensation of coal fired electricity generators; the possibility of taking 25% emission reduction targets off the table when they are in Australia's best interest; the lack of a principled basis for support of trade-exposed industries and the potential threat to public finances of the proposed compensation to industry.
Support
Statements of support included:The United Nations climate negotiator Yvo de Boer told ABC Radio "Australia's now put a figure on the table, something countries have been calling for for a long time".
Gerard Henderson
Gerard Henderson
Gerard Henderson is a conservative Australian newspaper columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.. He is also Executive Director of the Sydney Institute, a privately funded current affairs forum. His wife Anne Henderson is Deputy Director.-Education:Henderson attended the Jesuit Xavier College in...
, the former Chief-of-Staff to John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, has described Rudd's emissions targets as "responsible".
After changes announced in May 2009, some business and environment groups announced that the CPRS, although weak, was now worth supporting.
Other
Whether or not the Federal Opposition will support the proposed legislation will depend on an independent assessment of the Government's carbon emission scheme it will commission. Without support of some Opposition members in the Senate there is a possibility the enabling legislation may not be passed unless it gains the support of the Greens, Family First and independent senators. If the enabling legislation is not passed, there is a chance that it could be passed if the Government uses it as a trigger for a double dissolutionDouble dissolution
A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate....
election.
May 2009 changes
On 4 May 2009, the government announced a number of modifications to the proposed Scheme, including a delayed start, a deeper conditional target (25% by 2020, in the event of a global agreement aiming at 450 ppm), more assistance for industry, and a "carbon trust" to enable voluntary action by households.November 2009 changes
There were a number of significant changes made to the scheme in November 2009 after Malcolm Turnbull negotiated with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. These changes included large increases in compensation for polluting industries, including the coal and aluminium smelting industries. $4 billion was proposed for the manufacturing sector and $1.5 billion was proposed for electricity generators.Withdrawal of bill
On 2 December 2009, the Senate failed to pass the CPRS, giving Kevin Rudd a potential reason for calling a double dissolution election.On 27 April 2010, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the Government has decided to delay the implementation of the CPRS until after the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
(which ends in 2012). The Government cited the lack of bipartisan support for the CPRS and slow international progress on climate action for the delay. The Prime Minister announced that the CPRS would be introduced only when there is greater clarity on the actions of other major economies including the US, China and India.
In June 2010, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (Australia)
The current Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is Tony Burke, who took over from Peter Garrett . The Minister and department change took effect in the Second Gillard Ministry on 14 September 2010...
, Peter Garrett
Peter Garrett
Peter Robert Garrett, AM, MP , is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and politician.Garrett was lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil from 1973 until its disbanding in 2002...
, told Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia is an Australian 24 hour cable and satellite news channel available in 2.5 million homes on Foxtel, Austar, Optus Television and Neighbourhood Cable subscription platforms....
that he first learned of the scrapping of the CPRS when he read about it in a newspaper after being leak
News leak
A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information.-Types of news leaks:...
ed by a Government source.
The delay on implementation of the CPRS drew some strong criticism of Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party from the Federal Opposition and from community and grassroots action groups such as GetUp
GetUp
GetUp! is a left-leaning Australian activist group that campaigns on issues important to its members. It was launched in August 2005, the week that the Coalition took control of the Australian Senate....
.
On 5 April 2011, the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, stated that he believed it had been a mistake to delay the ETS during his term as Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
.
In February 2011, Gillard Government
Gillard Government
The Gillard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia, which is led by the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard became Prime Minister on the 24th of June 2010 after challenging her predecessor, Kevin Rudd for the position of leader of the parliamentary...
announced the Clean Energy Bill, 2011
Clean Energy Bill, 2011
The Clean Energy Bill 2011 is a package of legislation that will establish a proposed Australian emissions trading scheme designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and limit global warming.-History:...
, an emissions trading scheme in Australia to replace the CPRS.
See also
- List of climate change initiatives
- Department of Climate Change (Australia)Department of Climate Change (Australia)The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is an Australian Government department, currently led by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet...
- Penny WongPenny WongPenelope "Penny" Ying-yen Wong , is an Australian Labor Party senator for South Australia and the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Wong was the first Australian Minister for Climate Change and Water. Her appointment was amended on 26 February 2010, by the Prime Minister, to the...
- Energy policy of Australia#Green paper on Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme
- Asia-Pacific Emissions Trading ForumAsia-Pacific Emissions Trading ForumThe Asia-Pacific Emissions Trading Forum is an information service and business network dealing with domestic and international developments in emissions trading policy in the Asia-Pacific region. The AETF was originally called the Australasian Emissions Trading Forum, and was founded in 1998...