Page 8 - Climate Control News September 2022

News
Government mandates emissions target
THE GOVERNMENT HAS legislated its emis- sions target introducing the Climate Change Bill 2022 to parliament.
The bill is symbolic of Australia’s policy shift and mandates the government’s
plan to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. The government has already notified the United Nations of its updated climate targets and pointed out that by writing them into law it would send a
strong signal to investors and other nations. Introducing the bill to the lower house, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said enough time had been wasted delaying action
on climate change.
However, the Greens Party has labelled the bill
as too weak.
The Greens want a commitment from the gov-
ernment that it will not approve any new coal or gas projects.
The Climate Council had a similar stance claiming deeper cuts were needed this decade.
Climate Council CEO, Amanda McKenzie, said the legislation can act as a springboard to make further cuts to emissions.
“It is important that the Government has said their targets are the floor not the ceiling and can be improved over time. But the lan-
guage in the bill should make it clear that there is no obstacle to governments going faster and further,” she said.
Climate Councillor, Nicki Hutley, said this next decade must be defined by strong game-changing climate action.
“The economic opportunities for a country like Australia are boundless. Clean energy exports could be worth $333 billion each year, that’s almost triple the value of Australia’s existing fos- sil fuel exports,” she said.
ABOVE: The Greens Party wants a commitment the government will not approve any new coal or gas projects.
ABOVE LEFT: Climate Change Minister, Chris Bowen, said enough time has been wasted.
Business failing Paris Agreement goals
RESEARCHERS FROM THE University of Queensland (UQ), Oxford and Princeton have developed a test to measure if businesses are on- track to meet Paris Agreement climate action goals, and so far, their results aren’t too positive.
The study, led by UQ Business School’s assis- tant professor Saphira Rekker, found 10 global cement companies, and nine Australian utility
companies were not complying with Paris Agree- ment targets to tackle climate change.
“After developing a new modelling framework, we analysed a total of 20 companies, and we found only one Australian electric company was compliant with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agree- ment,” Rekker said.
“These results are alarming and show the stark reality of how businesses continue to operate with- out a clear plan for decar- bonisation. It also highlights how much change is still required if the world is to comply with the Paris Agree-
ment goals.“
The team measured
the businesses’ carbon
Cover of the University of Queensland report.
reduction performance and alignment with the Paris Agreement, which is an international treaty on climate change with a global goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre- industrial levels.
“Stakeholders and investors want to know about their business’ climate impacts, and we need to have an accurate way of tracking pro- gress, otherwise the globe will fail to meet carbon budgets,” Rekker said.
“We also found there were a lot of discrepan- cies with previous business modelling, such as not requiring companies to outline a stringent below 2°C decarbonisation pathway, and not providing a consistent starting point.
“That’s why we developed the new framework, called the Paris Compliant Pathways, to improve transparency.”
The analysis of 20 businesses found Australian business Engie Group was the only company on- track, having retired all its coal-fired assets at the start of 2017, with a commitment to retire its remaining gas plants by 2037.
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