Australia edges closer to big emissions reduction bill

27/3/2023 12:47

        Australia's lower house on Monday passed an emissions reduction plan with curbs on some new gas and coal investments and a cap on total greenhouse gas
        emissions from the country's biggest polluters after a key deal with the Greens Party.
        
        The "Safeguard Mechanism" reform legislation is key to the Labor government's pledge to cut emissions by 43% by 2030 in a country that ranks as one of the world's biggest carbon emitters per capita.
        
        Weeks of talks with the Greens Party, whose support is needed in the upper house Senate, yielded changes including a hard total emissions cap, ministerial review for projects that raise total emissions and compulsory disclosures for polluters that rely heavily on carbon offsets to meet their targets.
        
        The updated legislation also requires all new gas projects in the Beetaloo Basin to have net zero carbon emissions and new gas fields supplying existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants to have net zero reservoir emissions, imposing new costs.