Changes to the proposed Safeguard Mechanism since the first round of consultation do not appear to have addressed the key concerns of our initial submission. Namely, that there is nothing in the mechanism that will ensure Australia’s emissions fall at all, let alone fall in a manner consistent with avoiding, at most, two degrees of warming.
Our modelling for the consultation paper and subsequent modelling by others has shown that Australia’s emissions, in particular from the electricity generation sector, would be allowed to increase significantly, without penalty. The current Draft Rule has failed to address this. This remains a fundamental flaw in what is supposed to be the centre-piece of Australian climate policy, and it is deeply disappointing that it has not been amended despite clear evidence of this problem being presented in response to the consultation paper.
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