News

The Climate Change Authority has published the advice and 42 recommendations it provided to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy on 27 October. The authority’s advice is a key input to the government’s Annual Climate Change Statement and is required under the Climate Change Act 2022. 

The authority’s second Annual Progress Report finds the Australian Government is pursuing a broad and deep climate change policy agenda, but this has yet to translate into the emissions reductions needed. Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions were 467 million tonnes in the year ending June 2023, an increase of four million tonnes. To achieve a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared with 2005 levels, and net zero emissions by 2050, Australia will need to decarbonise at an average annual rate of 17 million tonnes. 

The authority’s 42 recommendations focus on decarbonising each sector of the economy and supporting Australia becoming a prosperous, resilient, net zero economy. Many recommendations call on the Australian government and states and territories to work more cooperatively to achieve policy objectives to meet the legislated 2030 target. While governments hold the policy levers to guide businesses and individuals to choices that support Australia’s climate change goals, the necessary changes go beyond the reach of any government acting alone.

Successful policy implementation will be crucial for achieving Australia’s emissions reduction targets.

The authority’s Media Release can be found here: [PDF] [WORD]

The Annual Progress Report 2023 can be found here.

The Climate Change Authority has today published all public submissions made to our May 2023 Issues Paper: Setting, tracking and achieving Australia’s emissions reduction targets.  (Opens in a new tab/window)

The authority received submissions from 323 organisations and individuals across Australia, 272 of which agreed to the authority publishing their submission online.

The authority has analysed the submissions and will continue to take account of contents in formulating advice to government, including the 2023 Annual Progress Report, the Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU) Scheme review, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act review, advice on sectoral pathways to net zero and Australia’s 2035 targets.  To receive information about further consultation opportunities, sign up here(Opens in a new tab/window).

We would like to thank everyone who made a submission. These contributions improve the quality of our analysis and provide evidence to help inform our recommendations.

Submissions can be viewed and downloaded here(Opens in a new tab/window).

You can contact us via consultation@climatechangeauthority.gov.au.

A new CSIRO report provides valuable information on the potential to lower the costs of sequestration technologies, which in turn could lead to greater uptake.

The CSIRO Sequestration Cost Reduction Workshops Report synthesises a series of expert workshops held to test the potential for technical innovation to reduce costs and increase carbon sequestration uptake across various technologies and approaches. 

Growth in carbon sequestration, complementing strong and urgent emissions cuts, is critical to achieving the global goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and net negative emissions in the second half of the century. 

The report is part of a two-year project collaboration between the Climate Change Authority, the CSIRO and the Clean Energy Regulator to understand and unlock Australia’s carbon sequestration potential.

More than 60 experts from industry, academia and government advised on innovation options for carbon sequestration approaches from planted vegetation and savanna fire management to direct air capture of carbon dioxide. 

Some technologies examined are currently in the early stages of development, costly and not widely used; others are widely deployed, but further expansion of their use would help lower technology costs and support national abatement goals. 

Key findings from the workshops include:

• All the sequestration approaches examined in the workshops have technical innovation options available that can lower costs; with less mature technologies (such as direct air capture, biomass/biochar and mineral carbonation) having greater potential for cost reduction and accelerated uptake.
• Innovations in blue carbon could reduce costs by around 40% on current costs. 
• Innovations in planted vegetation sequestration could result in cost reductions of approximately 10 to 30%. 
• Good opportunities exist to lower the costs of mineral carbonation sequestration, a technology currently in the early stages of development. 

CSIRO’s Sequestration Cost Reduction Workshops Report is available here(Opens in a new tab/window). 

Read more about the Authority’s carbon sequestration potential project here.
 

The Climate Change Authority invites you to join a webinar 11.30am-1pm (AEDT) on Tuesday 17 October 2023. The webinar is an opportunity to learn about and discuss the authority’s latest thinking in its review of the ACCU Scheme.

In this, our fourth review of the legislation that enables the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme, we are focusing on:  

• Securing integrity – focusing on additionality, permanence and leakage. 
• Valuing non-carbon outcomes – including First Nations people’s engagement.
• Managing supply and demand - including land use competition and supporting participation. Intersection with the Safeguard Mechanism is also considered, in relation to demand. 
• Scaling emissions removals – including how the scheme can support engineered removals. 
• Alignment with the Paris Agreement – including international trade considerations. 

The authority’s secretariat will outline the approach taken to the review, draft findings, and latest thinking about potential recommendations. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and join the conversation.

Please register to join the webinar here(Opens in a new tab/window).

If you have any questions about the event or the review, please contact us via consultation@climatechangeauthority.gov.au 
 

The Australian Parliament has requested that the Climate Change Authority (CCA) review the potential technology transition and emissions pathways that best support Australia’s transition to net zero by 2050 for the following sectors:

• Electricity and energy
• Transport
• Industry and waste
• Agriculture and land
• Resources
• Built environment.

The authority must identify opportunities, technologies, barriers, workforce matters, information gaps, and the role of public and private finance in its review of sectoral pathways.

The review was requested under Section 59 of the Climate Change Authority Act (2011) and will be delivered by 1 August 2024. The terms of reference are set out below.

The authority welcomes the opportunity to consult widely and provide advice to government on decarbonisation pathway. Through examining each sector’s opportunities to achieve emissions reductions and barriers that might stand in the way, the sectoral pathways review will outline how Australia could achieve net zero by 2050, and how far sectors could go by 2035. 

Work is already underway in the authority to develop advice on Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction targets, due to government no earlier than 1 October 2024. 

In the months ahead, the authority will also deliver its advice for the Minister’s annual climate change statement and reviews of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme and Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme. 

The sectoral pathways review was requested under Section 59 of the Climate Change Authority Act (2011) and will be delivered by 1 August 2024.

The authority has today released its 2023-24 Corporate Plan, outlining its activities for the next four years. 

Corporate Plan 2023-24 [PDF] [WORD]. 

In his opening statement, the chair of the authority Mr Grant King noted that the plan reflects a substantially expanded role and work program for the authority, spanning existing and new statutory responsibilities, and backed by a restored capacity to deliver. 

“Domestically, climate concern and ambition need to translate into real traction and momentum by governments, business and communities working together. While responding to these challenges is a collective priority, the burden of change needs to fall fairly. We need to be mindful of vulnerable groups and critically-exposed sectors, and be at our creative best in finding solutions and seizing opportunities to successfully achieve our net zero goals,” Mr King said.

Looking ahead to the next twelve months, the authority will:

• Provide its second Annual Progress Report on progress towards emissions reduction targets, which will support Minister Bowen’s 2023 Annual Climate Statement to Parliament.
• Complete and report on statutory reviews of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011, and the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007.
• Progress advice on sectoral emissions reduction pathways to net zero, expected to be commissioned in late 2023 by a parliamentary referral.
• Continue working on advice for Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction targets under its next Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, due to be submitted to the government in late 2024.

“In all our work, the authority seeks to embody its values of independence; broad and meaningful outreach and engagement; excellence in research and analysis; transparency; and good governance and accountability,” CEO Brad Archer said.
 

Timeline extended on the survey for the Authority’s review of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act (NGER Act) 

In response to requests, the Authority has extended the timeline for the survey on key themes in this year’s review of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007(Opens in a new tab/window) (NGER Act). The survey will now be open until 11:59PM AEST Friday 15 September 2023.  

You can preview the survey questions (via a PDF) and submit your responses on the Authority's consultation hub(Opens in a new tab/window). If you are unable to use the consultation hub, please contact us at consultation@climatechangeauthority.gov.au 

Context  

The Authority is currently conducting its second review of the NGER Act, due to be submitted to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy before 31 December 2023.   

The Authority’s review of the NGER Act will focus on the NGER scheme, recognising the Safeguard Mechanism has been through a significant reform process.  

The Authority is an independent statutory authority established under the Climate Change Authority Act 2011(Opens in a new tab/window) to provide expert advice to the Australian Government on climate change policy.

The Climate Change Authority has begun developing its approach to the 2035 emissions reduction target advice to the Australian Government.

This approach includes an economic modelling exercise that is currently in its preliminary stages. The Authority has released a consultation paper seeking stakeholder feedback on the exercise. 

The Authority proposes that its advice on future emissions targets be based on four pillars: 

1. international considerations
2. wellbeing 
3. sectoral pathways 
4. economic analysis 

Economic modelling is a key input to the ‘economic analysis’ pillar.

This consultation paper outlines the Authority’s early thinking on a modelling approach, including potential scenarios and assumptions. 

Feedback on this consultation paper will inform the development of the modelling approach and related analysis, and support the Authority’s advice to the Government.

If you are an expert in climate change or economic modelling or have views on how the Authority should approach economic modelling, we want to hear from you.

To make a submission, please review the consultation paper: [PDF] [WORD]

Submissions can be made via our Consultation Hub(Opens in a new tab/window). 

Submissions close 15 September 2023.
 

Have your say on the Climate Change Authority's NGER review

The Authority is seeking input on the key themes in this year’s review of the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (NGER Act)(Opens in a new tab/window) and would like to hear from you. The key themes include:

• NGER scheme coverage, including sectoral coverage and thresholds
• Fugitive methane measurement, reporting and verification 
• Transparency and data publication
• Confidentiality and Section 25 of the NGER Act
• Administration and compliance

You can find the survey on the Authority's consultation hub(Opens in a new tab/window). The survey will be open until Friday 15 September. 

If you have already provided your input to the review via the Authority’s Issues Paper(Opens in a new tab/window) released in May, or other consultations, please do not feel obliged to complete the survey. If you have any questions, please contact consultation@climatechangeauthority.gov.au. 

Context

The Authority is currently conducting its second review of the NGER Act, due to be submitted to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy before 31 December 2023. 

The Authority’s review of the NGER Act will focus on the NGER scheme, recognising the Safeguard Mechanism has been through a significant reform process.

The Authority is an independent statutory authority established under the Climate Change Authority Act 2011(Opens in a new tab/window) to provide expert advice to the Australian Government on climate change policy. 

The Authority has made a submission in response to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Art’s Fuel Efficiency Standard consultation paper. The consultation paper sought views on key considerations for the design of a Fuel Efficiency Standard for light vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

In its submission the Authority stated that the Government’s proposed Fuel Efficiency Standard should decline to 0 g CO2 per km as rapidly as the market can adapt, with due consideration to, and monitoring of, supply chain issues. 

The Authority emphasised that:

• overcoming supply chain issues and increasing the scale of electric vehicle production, and ultimately reaching price parity between electric and fuel combustion vehicles, will be part of ensuring consumers are able to make low emissions choices in the vehicles they purchase. 
• there needs to be greater deployment of recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Australia to ensure this does not hold back demand for these vehicles. Additionally, the increase in electrified transport will have implications for the electricity grid, which should be considered in related energy transition policy development processes. 

The submission contains insights and recommendations on the design of the Fuel Efficiency Standard to ensure its integrity and effectiveness which aligns with previous advice from reports, ‘Light Vehicle Emissions Standards for Australia’ (2014) and ‘Prospering in a low-emissions world: An updated climate policy toolkit for Australia’ (2020). 

You can view the Authority’s submission here [PDF].