Page 808 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 2 May 2007
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We have introduced many sustainable practices and initiatives already. Sustainability is about long-term change, cultural and institutional. Whilst providing a long-term vision, short-term achievements are also vital to demonstrate progress and to motivate further progress through reward and inspiration. Examples of this include the ACT government’s Greenfleet, compressed natural gas buses, and the purchase of hybrid vehicles for the government fleet. And might I add that I, amongst others here in this place, have opted to drive these excellent vehicles.
Other initiatives that people would be familiar with are designed to encourage people to leave their cars at home. There are too many achievements for me to list them here, but I am sure members are very familiar with key strategies in relation to energy, water, urban design, sustainable schools and rehabilitation, including incentives, education, partnerships and legislation.
Importantly, the Electricity (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Act 2004 was passed in July of that year. This act establishes the greenhouse gas abatement scheme, which commenced on 1 January 2005. The scheme is designed to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of electricity. In its first year of operation it reduced emissions by nearly 317,000 tonnes, the annual equivalent of 74,000 cars. As the ACT works in tandem with New South Wales on this scheme, and New South Wales has recently amended its legislation to extend its effect to 2020, it has been necessary for the ACT to amend its legislation to reflect the new time lines.
The state and territory National Emissions Trading Taskforce, established in August 2006 to develop a multi-jurisdictional emissions trading scheme, is a significant and very important step. The environmental integrity of the scheme is of central importance in the scheme’s design and the objectives of the emissions trading scheme are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve certainty for investors, constrain greenhouse gas emissions in the stationary energy sector through careful management and minimise the economic impacts, promote least-cost reduction in emissions, and cap the cost of compliance.
Until such time as there is widespread international action on emissions reductions, the competitiveness of Australian trade-exposed industries must be protected. The future is uncertain and the scheme needs to be flexible in the face of new information emerging from climate change science, international obligations, and the cost and nature of new technologies. The design must provide the means to assist those most adversely affected by the reduction of emissions through the scheme. The above objectives shape the ACT government’s discussion paper.
The proposed scheme will allow for the economic transition as smoothly as possible by gearing the cap on emissions to a rate that is manageable, and gradually reducing the cap as time goes by, to allow for a balance between the need for flexibility and the need to provide certainty to industry and to the market. It is the preference, of course, of all states and territories that the commonwealth be involved in this groundbreaking scheme.
Obviously, any policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have associated costs. Compared with alternatives, it is widely acknowledged that emissions trading is
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