Australia: Paying for pollution
Australia takes a giant step towards a green economy with a landmark Clean Energy Bill
Polluters must pay and help fund Australia’s move towards a green economy. This is the theory, in a nutshell, behind Australia’s Clean Energy Future Bill which was passed by the Senate this week and which, despite much criticism, is being hailed as one of the country’s most important economic policies since the start of the noughties.
The Bill, which has its very own website to explain all its ins and outs (www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au), promises a lot to the Australian people, who are particularly sensitive to the issue of climate change due to the increase in extreme weather events like droughts, floods and forest fires in recent years. As of July 2012, 500 of the country’s biggest polluters (companies, not people) will have to pay 23 AUD (17 euros) per tonne of C02 emitted, approximately 10 euros more than what companies in Europe have to pay. By 2020 the government hopes to reduce carbon pollution by 160 million tonnes a year, equivalent to taking 45 million cars off the road for one year. It also hopes to create 1.6 million new jobs and support the development of the renewable energy sector by creating two new agencies, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corps (CEFC) which will administer a total of 13 billion AUD (10 billion euros), 2.5 billion euros by ARENA and 7.5 billion by the CEFC.
WWF and other environmental groups are supporting the Bill. “Many people have been working for years to make this important reform happen. We thank each and every one of them for their dedication and perseverance,” said Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia.
“As an exceptionally large polluter – the highest per capita greenhouse gas polluters in the OECD and the 15th highest polluting country – Australia has a key role to play in global efforts to tackle climate change. Australia now joins more than 30 other countries, including New Zealand and all members of the European Union, who have priced their carbon pollution and are developing clean energy economies,” he added.
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