Latest news with #MattPollard
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Anthony Albanese's government considering a new Donald Trump style tariff: What it means for you
Teaming up with other regional economies to impose tariffs on carbon-intensive iron and other goods has been pitched as key to Australia's future as a major player in emerging green industries. The case for Asian carbon border tariffs has been made by think tank Climate Energy Finance days after the federal energy minister signalled openness to charges at the border on emissions-heavy steel and cement. Carbon border adjustment mechanisms, known as CBAMs, can level the playing field for heavy industries subject to domestic carbon pricing. Without them, steelmakers and other producers may choose to move factories offshore to countries with less stringent regulations on pollution, a problem known as 'carbon leakage'. The European Union has been leading the charge and its carbon border adjustment mechanism is scheduled to come into full force in 2026. There was a strong case for an Asian equivalent building on the 17 domestic carbon pricing schemes already across the region, Climate Energy Finance net-zero transformation analyst and report author Matt Pollard said. This includes Australia, which forces big polluters to pay a carbon penalty if their emissions are above a certain threshold via the safeguard mechanism. China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore also have carbon pricing in some shape or form. With most emissions-intensive goods produced in Asia for export traded within the Asia Pacific, a regional border mechanism would effectively function as a price on carbon in international trade. 'As a result, lower-emission products can more effectively compete against higher-emissions products in a global market,' Mr Pollard explained. The think tank wants Australia to spearhead the conversation as part of its bid to co-host the COP31 climate summit alongside Pacific nations. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen would not rule out the possibility of carbon tariffs on specific sectors, such as steel and cement, during an interview on ABC's Insiders on Sunday He cited an ongoing review into carbon leakage headed by Australian National University climate change economics expert Frank Jotzo. 'We want to ensure Australian industry is best placed to compete in a decarbonising world,' he said on Sunday. Opposition energy and emissions reduction spokesman Dan Tehan criticised the minister for floating the idea immediately after winning the federal election. 'He's put electricity prices up, he's put gas prices up, and he's put emissions up, and now he wants to follow Donald Trump's lead and put in place tariffs,' Mr Tehan said on social media platform X on Sunday. Mr Pollard rejected the comparison to the US president's 'erratically applied, economically and industrially destructive and investment-deterring' tariff agenda. 'Carbon border adjustment mechanisms are not discriminatory, and enhance globalisation, international collaboration and climate action - which is intrinsically a global problem,' he said. While they are tariffs by nature, carbon border adjustment mechanisms have the opposite objectives of the Trump administration's trade policies that are designed to 'enhance protectionism and isolationism'. The push for regional Asian carbon tariffs was welcomed by groups like clean energy industry body Smart Energy Council and economic think tank The Superpower Institute.
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Australia urged to spearhead regional carbon tariffs
Teaming up with other regional economies to impose tariffs on carbon-intensive iron and other goods has been pitched as key to Australia's future as a major player in emerging green industries. The case for Asian carbon border tariffs has been made by think tank Climate Energy Finance days after the federal energy minister signalled openness to charges at the border on emissions-heavy steel and cement. Carbon border adjustment mechanisms, known as CBAMs, can level the playing field for heavy industries subject to domestic carbon pricing. Without them, steelmakers and other producers may choose to move factories offshore to countries with less stringent regulations on pollution, a problem known as "carbon leakage". The European Union has been leading the charge and its carbon border adjustment mechanism is scheduled to come into full force in 2026. There was a strong case for an Asian equivalent building on the 17 domestic carbon pricing schemes already across the region, Climate Energy Finance net-zero transformation analyst and report author Matt Pollard said. This includes Australia, which forces big polluters to pay a carbon penalty if their emissions are above a certain threshold via the safeguard mechanism. China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore also have carbon pricing in some shape or form. With most emissions-intensive goods produced in Asia for export traded within the Asia Pacific, a regional border mechanism would effectively function as a price on carbon in international trade. "As a result, lower-emission products can more effectively compete against higher-emissions products in a global market," Mr Pollard explained. The think tank wants Australia to spearhead the conversation as part of its bid to co-host the COP31 climate summit alongside Pacific nations. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen would not rule out the possibility of carbon tariffs on specific sectors, such as steel and cement, during an interview on ABC's Insiders on Sunday He cited an ongoing review into carbon leakage headed by Australian National University climate change economics expert Frank Jotzo. "We want to ensure Australian industry is best placed to compete in a decarbonising world," he said on Sunday. Opposition energy and emissions reduction spokesman Dan Tehan criticised the minister for floating the idea immediately after winning the federal election. "He's put electricity prices up, he's put gas prices up, and he's put emissions up, and now he wants to follow Donald Trump's lead and put in place tariffs," Mr Tehan said on social media platform X on Sunday. Mr Pollard rejected the comparison to the US president's "erratically applied, economically and industrially destructive and investment-deterring" tariff agenda. "Carbon border adjustment mechanisms are not discriminatory, and enhance globalisation, international collaboration and climate action - which is intrinsically a global problem," he said. While they are tariffs by nature, carbon border adjustment mechanisms have the opposite objectives of the Trump administration's trade policies that are designed to "enhance protectionism and isolationism". The push for regional Asian carbon tariffs was welcomed by groups like clean energy industry body Smart Energy Council and economic think tank The Superpower Institute.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Australia urged to spearhead regional carbon tariffs
Teaming up with other regional economies to impose tariffs on carbon-intensive iron and other goods has been pitched as key to Australia's future as a major player in emerging green industries. The case for Asian carbon border tariffs has been made by think tank Climate Energy Finance days after the federal energy minister signalled openness to charges at the border on emissions-heavy steel and cement. Carbon border adjustment mechanisms, known as CBAMs, can level the playing field for heavy industries subject to domestic carbon pricing. Without them, steelmakers and other producers may choose to move factories offshore to countries with less stringent regulations on pollution, a problem known as "carbon leakage". The European Union has been leading the charge and its carbon border adjustment mechanism is scheduled to come into full force in 2026. There was a strong case for an Asian equivalent building on the 17 domestic carbon pricing schemes already across the region, Climate Energy Finance net-zero transformation analyst and report author Matt Pollard said. This includes Australia, which forces big polluters to pay a carbon penalty if their emissions are above a certain threshold via the safeguard mechanism. China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore also have carbon pricing in some shape or form. With most emissions-intensive goods produced in Asia for export traded within the Asia Pacific, a regional border mechanism would effectively function as a price on carbon in international trade. "As a result, lower-emission products can more effectively compete against higher-emissions products in a global market," Mr Pollard explained. The think tank wants Australia to spearhead the conversation as part of its bid to co-host the COP31 climate summit alongside Pacific nations. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen would not rule out the possibility of carbon tariffs on specific sectors, such as steel and cement, during an interview on ABC's Insiders on Sunday He cited an ongoing review into carbon leakage headed by Australian National University climate change economics expert Frank Jotzo. "We want to ensure Australian industry is best placed to compete in a decarbonising world," he said on Sunday. Opposition energy and emissions reduction spokesman Dan Tehan criticised the minister for floating the idea immediately after winning the federal election. "He's put electricity prices up, he's put gas prices up, and he's put emissions up, and now he wants to follow Donald Trump's lead and put in place tariffs," Mr Tehan said on social media platform X on Sunday. Mr Pollard rejected the comparison to the US president's "erratically applied, economically and industrially destructive and investment-deterring" tariff agenda. "Carbon border adjustment mechanisms are not discriminatory, and enhance globalisation, international collaboration and climate action - which is intrinsically a global problem," he said. While they are tariffs by nature, carbon border adjustment mechanisms have the opposite objectives of the Trump administration's trade policies that are designed to "enhance protectionism and isolationism". The push for regional Asian carbon tariffs was welcomed by groups like clean energy industry body Smart Energy Council and economic think tank The Superpower Institute.
Reuters
18-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Green steel needs incentives to work and Japan has a plan: Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Decarbonising steel production is one of the major challenges of the energy transition, especially given that consumers across the world show little appetite or capacity to pay more for green steel products. This means that greening a sector responsible for around 8% of global carbon emissions is likely to rely on government policies and regulations to create price signals. The debate is really over what policies are likely to produce the best and quickest results, with options ranging from subsidising green steel plants, or products made with green steel, to instituting carbon taxes that encourage producers to change how they make steel. Japan, the world's third-largest steel and vehicle producer, has recently announced new policies that may provide an incentive to both consumers, manufacturers and steel makers. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has introduced a subsidy of 50,000 yen ($330) for clean energy vehicles (CEVs) built with low-emission steel. This adds to consumer subsidies introduced last year of up to 850,000 yen for the purchase of an electric vehicle and up to 550,000 yen for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Under the plan, METI will evaluate submissions by automakers on their low-emission steel procurement and allocate subsidies based on the percentage of green steel being used, according to Matt Pollard, an analyst at clean energy consultancy Climate Energy Finance. "In the broader context, it is important for METI to publicly release the carbon accounting methodologies, green product definitions and emission thresholds it will use to determine products and producers that will benefit from the models approved under the new subsidy scheme," Pollard said. Put simply, how all this works is likely to determine whether it is actually successful. Japan's steel sector produces about 85 million metric tons a year, the majority from coal-based blast furnaces, making it more polluting than the U.S., EU and China steel sectors, which all have more electric arc furnace capacity. It's possible that Japan's steel sector will now have incentives to switch, but what technologies and processes will be key. GREEN OPTIONS Using hydrogen to turn iron ore that's been upgraded into either direct reduced iron (DRI) or hot briquetted iron (HBI) is one method that's been proposed, but the problem for Japan is that it doesn't have the capacity to produce green hydrogen at scale, given the lack of renewable electricity generation. Importing hydrogen is also unlikely given the challenges in liquefying and shipping what is a volatile substance. Increasing the use of electric arc furnaces is also a possibility, but this needs high-grade iron ore, or DRI or HBI, to work. Electric arc furnaces also need to be powered by renewables or nuclear to be considered green, and Japan's current electricity generation is still mainly powered by coal and liquefied natural gas. The trick to getting the subsidies to work is to make it possible to produce green steel at a price that is at least equal to, but preferably lower, than the level of the subsidy. If Japan is providing $330 for an electric vehicle made with low-emission steel, can steel makers make a profit? Research from clean energy think tank Transition Asia said the premium for producing steel with green hydrogen and DRI in China is about $225 a ton, which gives a cost per vehicle of about $203 assuming the typical passenger car uses 0.9 ton of steel. Transition Asia data suggested a slightly higher cost than China for green steel in Japan and South Korea, but actually lower than in the European Union. The costs will vary from country to country, but the research does suggest that even a modest subsidy can provide sufficient incentive for steel producers to make green steel, car makers to switch to using it and consumers to embrace buying the finished product. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. here.
