Page 628 - Week 02 - Thursday, 14 February 2013
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2013 to 2020 or until such time as an effective national emissions trading scheme was put in place. With the introduction of the Australian government’s clean energy futures package, the National Energy Retail Law (Consequential Amendments) Act 2012 amended the Electricity (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Act to bring the ACT scheme to an end, effective on 1 July last year.
As the ACT greenhouse gas abatement scheme was operated on a calendar year basis, this report is the final compliance report for the ACT scheme, and it covers the first six months of 2012. In 2012 there were 16 entities licensed to sell electricity in the ACT. A total of 383,902 New South Wales greenhouse gas abatement certificates and New South Wales greenhouse abatement certificate equivalents were surrendered in 2012. This is equivalent to 383,902 tonnes of greenhouse gas abated.
Over its lifetime, the ACT scheme has been a very successful initiative, with 3.848 million certificates surrendered, the equivalent of that same tonnage of emission reductions. The closure of the GGAS scheme by the ACT and New South Wales governments does not signal a diminishing of this government’s commitment to effective climate change action. Rather, it reflects national undertakings relating to the introduction of the commonwealth carbon pricing mechanism.
The ACT leads Australia in its commitment to addressing the issues surrounding climate change. In 2010 the territory legislated emissions reduction targets of 40 per cent reduction from 1990 levels by 2020, leading to the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2060. These targets were informed by an assessment by the IPCC of the level of abatement required of the developed economies to stabilise global warming to two degrees Celsius, thereby avoiding the most dangerous impacts of climate change.
By remaining within the two degrees scenario, we are seeking to limit the degree of probability of experiencing catastrophic climate change. A greater than two degrees Celsius increase increases the likelihood of critical tipping points and runaway global warming scenarios impacting on our food, water and, ultimately, our social security.
To meet these targets, the government developed a strategic pathway—action plan 2, a new climate change strategy and action plan for the Australian Capital Territory—which was released in September last year. AP2 sets out a number of initiatives to support action on climate change, which the ACT is committed to delivering, including a 90 per cent renewable energy target for 2020, implementing the government’s energy efficiency improvement scheme and supporting the national carbon price. These actions and others in AP2 will ensure our greenhouse gas reduction targets are met.
As recently as December last year, reports in the media, including those by the Global Carbon Project and the World Bank, significantly reinforced concerns over the rate and impact of climate change and indicated the prospect for limiting temperature rises to two degrees Celsius is rapidly diminishing. They serve to highlight the importance of our government’s AP2 initiatives in the areas of mitigation and adaptation.
I commend the report to the Assembly and look forward to the support of the Assembly in continuing to tackle this vital social, economic and environmental issue.
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