MORE MONEY WASTED IN SECOND AUCTION ON THE EMISSIONS REDUCTION FUND

Media Release

Mark Butler MP.

Shadow Minister for Environment
 Climate Change and Water

Date:  12 November 2015

Results of the second Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) auction released today is further evidence the Liberal Government is not serious about tacking action on climate change.

Today’s announcement confirms that Malcolm Turnbull is no longer just a conscript but the leading advocate for a policy he once referred to as a “a con, an environmental fig leaf to cover a determination to do nothing”.

In fact, Malcolm Turnbull today just spent half a billion dollars participating in a scheme he once described as “fiscal recklessness on a grand scale”.

For almost $557 million, only 45.45 million tonnes of carbon emissions have been contracted.

Adding that to the first auction means that the Government has spent half of the $2.55bn emissions reduction fund and not even purchased half the reductions needed to meet its 2020 target, let alone the 2030 target.

In the first auction, almost three quarters of the money (72 per cent) spent went to projects that already existed, projects that had been running in some cases for more than ten years. This means the abatement is not additional and therefore can’t be counted.

We won’t know what is additional in this auction round because the ERF auction results are secret and do not provide details of each project.  We do know that a very large proportion of the projects are ten year contracts and therefore will not deliver the full 45.45 million tonnes abatement in time to count towards our 2020 target.

Today confirms that the Government’s climate change policies are a complete shambles.

Emissions will continue to rise. Under Labor carbon pollution levels reduced by 8 per cent in a few years, since the election of the Abbott Government emissions have risen and are projected to keep increasing. 

Leading modeller Reputex has said that even accounting for the ERF, Australia will still see a 15 per cent increase in national emissions through to 2030.

And taxpayers will continue to fork out billions not getting value for money.

The whole thrust of this policy is for taxpayers to pay for emissions reductions by the companies, rather than big companies paying for it by themselves. 

The amount of reductions do not come anywhere near the abatement required to reach the inadequate reduction target set by the Government.

Analysis by The Climate Institute shows that if the total amount announced for the ERF by the Liberals ($4.95b) was used to purchase carbon reduction at the average price of the first two auctions ($13.12), then this would represent a miserly 3.5 per cent of Australia’s total emissions out to 2030 or 15 per cent of the government’s current knee-high emissions reduction target. 

Australians should know where their money is going and they should know quickly. But once again we will have to wait until a laborious senate estimates process to get some answers.