Latest news with #carbonTariff
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Anthony Albanese's government considering a new tax to help Australia acheive its climate targets
Chris Bowen has refused to rule out a possible 'carbon tariff' on dirty cement or steel as he acknowledged that Australia must 'do more' to achieve its climate targets. The Energy and Climate Change Minister was quizzed by the ABC's David Speers about whether he would bring in a carbon tariff. This would see levies placed on carbon-intensive products such as steel, cement and lime imported from abroad and could make the building process more expensive. It is a way of ensuring that Australian companies do not outsource carbon-emitting activities to other countries with less ambitious carbon-reduction targets. 'We have been clear that we want to ensure Australian industry is best placed to compete in a decarbonising world,' Bowen told the program. 'What could be the case is … we look at particular sectors first around cement and lime, [which] are places that we looked at in particular, but I'm not going to get in front of the process… 'We'll have more to say during the course of this term.' The Australian Government appointed Professor Frank Jotzo to lead a review into carbon leakage and what policy options were available to address it. This would see levies placed on carbon-intensive products such as steel, cement and lime imported from abroad and could make the building process more expensive His preliminary report identified cement, clinker and lime as industries in which there was a high leakage risk, while steel, glass and ammonia posed a moderate risk. The European Union has brought in a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which will imposes a carbon tax on imports from countries with less strict climate policies. Bowen's refusal to rule it out was criticised by the Coalition's new energy spokesperson Dan Tehan. 'Now before the election, Chris Bowen, this arrogant minister, said nothing about carbon tariffs,' he said. 'Yet here he is immediately after the election talking about putting them in place.' Tehan accused Bowen of putting Australia's 'energy security at risk' and putting gas and electricity prices up. 'Now he wants to follow Donald Trump's lead and put in tariffs. What a mess,' he added. Bowen said Australia was 'by and large on track' to meet its target of reducing emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. This is despite figueres last week showing little progress was made in 2024. 'We've never suggested it's a linear line … But with the right approach from government, yes, we can continue to be on track (despite) facing headwinds and challenges from time to time,' he said. Labor was criticised by environmental groups for approving a 40-year extended licence to WA's North West Shelf, the largest oil and gas project in the country. The government has a deadline this year to set its 2035 emissions reduction target.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Bowen open to carbon tariff, says Australia must 'do more' to hit 2030 climate target but remains on track
A "carbon tariff" on dirty cement or steel made elsewhere could be considered in the Albanese government's second term, as Energy Minister Chris Bowen concedes Australia must "do more" to achieve its climate targets. Mr Bowen said Australia was "by and large on track" to meet its legislated target of reducing emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, despite new figures this week showing flatlining progress in 2024. "We've never suggested it's a linear line … But with the right approach from government, yes, we can continue to be on track [despite] facing headwinds and challenges from time to time," he told the ABC's Insiders. Labor approved a 40-year expanded licence to Australia's largest oil and gas project, Western Australia's North West Shelf, in a move criticised by environmental groups. Mr Bowen said the decision by Environment Minister Murray Watt was made according to the "very strict criteria of the environmental approvals legislation", which does not allow consideration of emissions impacts and which Labor has so far failed to reform. But he insisted the move would not jeopardise Australia's emissions efforts because the North West Shelf would be governed by Labor's safeguard mechanism, which forces large emitters to reach net zero emissions, including by purchasing offsets if they cannot avoid emissions "onsite". "It's already obliged to be reducing emissions today and it is," he said. "The whole idea of the safeguard mechanism is to send the message to the boards to say, 'Hey, you know, you should start investing in onsite emissions abatement here, because we're going to require you to buy offsets if you don't.'" The government will this year be required to set a 2035 emissions target, which it will consider pending advice from the independent Climate Change Authority. Mr Bowen said he was willing to consider new policies if required, including the use of tariffs to ensure that companies do not shift emitting activities offshore to evade the intent of Australia's targets. That practice, known as carbon "leakage", is already subject to a government review led by ANU Professor Frank Jotzo, whose preliminary papers identified clinker, cement and lime as particularly high leakage risks, and ammonia, steel and glass as moderate risk. Mr Bowen said he would be guided by the Jotzo review, which was contemplating a "carbon border adjustment mechanism" that would impose an extra cost on imports made in countries without carbon prices. "We have been clear that we want to ensure Australian industry is best placed to compete in a decarbonising world," he said. "What could be the case is … we look at particular sectors first around cement and lime, [which] are places that we looked at in particular, but I'm not going to get in front of the process … We'll have more to say during the course of this term." The US this week increased its global tariffs on steel, drawing fresh criticism from the Australian government. Mr Bowen said he did not believe the Trump administration's abandonment of climate goals would derail Australian or global action. "The United States is around 12 per cent of emissions globally. That's a lot, but it doesn't mean that the rest of the 88 per cent of us stop doing things." He reiterated Australia's enthusiasm to host the next global climate conference in Adelaide. "A conference that knocks it out of the park is our intention for Australia to showcase ourselves, to highlight the jobs opportunity for a traditional fossil fuel country like ours, that we can and will embrace the transition."
