Page 2279 - Week 06 - Thursday, 6 June 2019
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the job of transitioning Canberra to a cleaner and more sustainable future, and that is what we will continue to do whilst we sit on this side of the chamber. I commend this legislation to the Assembly.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Corrections and Justice Health, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety and Minister for Mental Health) (5.24), in reply: I thank members for their support for the bill. The bill will establish an ongoing target of 100 per cent renewable electricity for the territory from 2020. This will provide the Canberra community with an assurance that their electricity will remain zero emission and renewable and will contribute towards the delivery of the government’s ongoing emissions reduction targets.
The bill establishes clear reporting requirements under the act in order to provide transparency on the delivery of the renewable electricity target. It will provide certainty to the renewable energy industry that the ACT government intends to continue its strong support for renewables despite the prospect of ongoing national policy uncertainty.
As members know, our Assembly passed a motion on May 16 this year acknowledging that we are in a state of climate emergency that requires urgent actions across all levels of government. We have taken important steps already. This is shown through the government’s targets to reach 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020 and net zero emissions from 2045. The government has also recently set interim targets for emissions reductions.
We have had four renewable electricity auctions for 640 megawatts of renewable electricity capacity from 10 large generators and a community solar project, which provide the ACT with the renewable electricity certificates produced on 20-year terms. Nine of the 10 large generators have commenced delivery of generation to the ACT, with the final generator and community solar farm to commence ACT supported generation this year.
The government is proud to represent one of the first jurisdictions in the world to reach the milestone of being completely powered by renewable electricity, which we expect to reach next year. However, addressing the climate emergency requires a long-term approach. We cannot rest on our achievements when we deliver 100 per cent renewable electricity. We must continue to take further action to decarbonise the ACT.
This bill is one action in what need to be a whole range of actions in the coming years. It commits the government to maintain the 100 per cent renewable electricity target on an ongoing basis from 2020. Ongoing delivery against this target is needed, regardless of the passage of this bill, in order to meet our existing emissions reduction targets. Electricity was previously the largest single source of emissions in the ACT, and the renewable electricity delivered for the 100 per cent target is a significant portion of the decarbonisation required for the interim 40 per cent emissions reduction target by 2020. The government’s emissions reduction targets for 2025 onwards are increasingly ambitious. It will not be possible to meet these targets if we allow electricity sector emissions to increase again from zero post 2020.
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