Antinuclear

Finkel Report recommends emissions trading, warns on Australian govt’s climate policy chaos

Finkel review criticises climate policy chaos and points to need for emissions trading Report warns investment in electricity has stalled, and existing policies won’t allow Australia to meet its Paris target, Guardian  Katharine Murphy, 8 Dec 16, Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel, has said investment in the electricity sector has stalled because of “policy instability and uncertainty” – and he’s warned that current federal climate policy settings will not allow Australia to meet its emissions reduction targets under the Paris agreement.

In a 58-page report that has been circulated before Friday’s Council of Australian Governments meeting between the prime minister and the premiers, Finkel has also given implicit endorsement to an emissions intensity trading scheme for the electricity industry to help manage the transition to lower-emissions energy sources.

While there is no concrete recommendation to that effect, the report, obtained by Guardian Australia, references the evidence from energy regulators that such a scheme would integrate best “with the electricity market’s pricing and risk management framework” and “had the lowest economic costs and the lowest impact on electricity prices”.

Finkel also notes advice from the Climate Change Authority which says market mechanisms have the lowest average cost of abatement, and of the options modelled, an emissions intensity scheme “had the lowest impact on average residential electricity prices”.

The positive commentary from the chief scientist cuts directly across political arguments the Turnbull government has made since dumping its nascent attempt to use the review of the Direct Action policy to explore an intensity trading scheme for electricity – equating carbon pricing with higher power prices for consumers………

The Turnbull government on Monday flagged an emissions intensity trading scheme for the electricity sector as part of its scheduled review of its Direct Action climate policy.

But the overture was dumped when Frydenberg folded in the face of internal pressure – a decision which has been widely criticised as short sighted and counterproductive by business, the energy industry and climate groups.

Friday’s Coag meeting will also hear a push from the South Australian government to revive emissions trading in the wake of the Turnbull government’s decision to preemptively rule it out.

But the push from the premier, Jay Weatherill, appears unlikely to secure unanimous support from other state governments.

South Australia has been leading the charge on an emissions trading scheme for the electricity sector for some months, but New South Wales rebuffed the push on Thursday. The Labor governments in Victoria and Queensland have also backed away from carbon pricing in favour of beefing up their state renewables policies…….

the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, blasted Turnbull for his conduct over the course of the week. “Malcolm Turnbull is demonstrating that he is under pressure, that he is lashing out, and that now he is making terrible decisions about the future of climate change and what governments can do about it,” Shorten said.

“Malcolm Turnbull has been muted on taking proper action on climate change. He has been gagged from talking about the solutions we need to tackle harmful carbon pollution.”

“This week has become the sickest joke of climate change policy since Malcolm Turnbull got elected.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/08/finkel-review-criticises-climate-policy-chaos-and-points-to-need-for-emissions-trading

December 9, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics