The GFC killed off Australia’s timber plantation boom, leaving behind a million hectares of timber. But by recognising the carbon value in these trees, a new industry could grow in place of the old.
After barely two weeks in office, the direction the Turnbull government is likely to take on climate is beginning to emerge. Remembering that Malcolm Turnbull would not have had the numbers for a spill…
In backing Abbott’s existing climate policy, Malcolm Turnbull looks like appeasing his party. But his prospects would be better served by appealing to voters who are anxious for strong climate action.
The term ‘carbon tax’ is a political poison in Australia, thanks to the previous carbon tax which was actually an emissions trading scheme. Yet ironically, many economists prefer a tax over an ETS anyway.
The Renewable Energy Target now includes wood waste from forestry. But a more sustainable use of Australia’s native forests would be to leave them alone and earn carbon credits from the avoided emissions.
Labor says it hasn’t yet decided what climate policy to take to the next election, although this week’s leak has bolstered the idea that it will involve carbon pricing – a subject with a long and vexed history for the party.
The carbon tax was not a cost or “slug” on the economy – it raised revenue that could be used elsewhere in the economy for public infrastructure or to allow cuts to more economically harmful taxes.
Federal environment minister Greg Hunt has hailed the first round of Emissions Reduction Fund auctions as a “stunning result”. But extrapolating the numbers puts Australia behind on its carbon targets.
James Whitmore, The Conversation; Michael Hopkin, The Conversation et Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation
The first round of contracts for Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund have been awarded, at an average price of just under A$14 a tonne. How do the numbers stack up, and what projects are the big winners?