Australia: Parliament agrees to limit emissions from big polluters

Australia is passing laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its biggest polluters by about 5% a year, aiming to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but tough decisions will be needed to effectively combat climate change.

Share:

Australia, one of the world’s largest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases, on Thursday passed climate laws targeting the biggest polluters, which will force mines, smelters and refineries to reduce their emissions by about 5% a year.

“This is the first time that greenhouse gas emissions reduction has been enshrined in Australian law,” Tommy Wiedmann, a sustainability expert at the University of New South Wales, told AFP. The laws apply to some 215 large industrial facilities – each producing more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year – and form the backbone of Australia’s commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

By requiring these units to reduce their emissions by 4.9% per year, the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese believes it can prevent 200 million tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere over the next decade. The facilities concerned, operated in particular by mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto, produce nearly 30% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Australian NGO Climate Council.

“What Parliament has done today is save our climate, save our economy and save our future,” said Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen in welcoming the passage of the legislation. The government saw the plan as ending a decade of political wrangling, which has repeatedly frustrated attempts to combat climate change. He reached an agreement on the safeguard mechanism after several weeks of difficult negotiations with the Green Party. They finally agreed to support the carbon plan after persuading the government to set a strict cap on emissions.

Natural disasters

The end of Australian climate inaction is “a step in the right direction” that “marginalizes the climate skeptics”, says Martin Brueckner, from Murdoch University in Perth. But this new legislation “will not be enough on its own,” Wiedmann warns, saying that “difficult decisions will have to be made in the next few years.

The Mining Industry Council, representing industrialists, warned of the risk of “deterioration of the national economy” and the loss of “tens of thousands of jobs”. Australia (26 million inhabitants) alone accounts for more than 1% of global emissions and ranks 14th among polluting countries, according to the Australian government agency for scientific research CSIRO. The mining sector accounts for 14.6% of its GDP, according to its central bank.

Elected last year, Mr. Albanese had promised to put an end to the fossil fuel policies that he said were implemented by the conservatives, who were in power for nine years. Long a laggard in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions, the country has moved on after a series of natural disasters blamed at least in part on climate change.

In the austral summer of 2019-20, Australia had seen giant bushfires devastate some eight million hectares of vegetation, killing more than 400 residents. The country also regularly experiences episodes of bleaching of its coral reef. Last year, about 20 people died in floods on the east coast.

The Spanish Parliament has rejected a package of reforms aimed at preventing another major power outage, plunging the national energy sector into uncertainty and revealing the fragility of the government's majority.
The U.S. government has supported Argentina’s request for a temporary suspension of an order to hand over its stake in YPF, a 16.1 billion USD judgment aimed at satisfying creditors.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency extends compliance deadlines for coal-fired power plant operators regarding groundwater monitoring and the closure of waste ponds.
Eskom aims to accelerate its energy transition through a new dedicated unit, despite a USD22.03bn debt and tariff uncertainties slowing investment.
Several major U.S. corporations announce investments totaling nearly USD 90 billion to strengthen energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania, aimed at powering data centers vital to the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence sector.
Nearly USD92bn will be invested by major American and international groups in new data centres and energy infrastructure, responding to the surge in electricity demand linked to the rise of artificial intelligence.
Nouakchott has endured lengthy power interruptions for several weeks, highlighting the financial and technical limits of the Mauritanian Electricity Company as Mauritania aims to widen access and green its mix by 2030.
Between 2015 and 2024, four multilateral climate funds committed nearly eight bn USD to clean energy, attracting private capital through concessional terms while Africa and Asia absorbed more than half of the volume.
The Global Energy Policies Hub shows that strategic reserves, gas obligations, cybersecurity and critical-mineral policies are expanding rapidly, lifting oil coverage to 98 % of world imports.
According to a report by Ember, the Chinese government’s appliance trade-in campaign could double residential air-conditioner efficiency gains in 2025 and trim up to USD943mn from household electricity spending this year.
Washington is examining sectoral taxes on polysilicon and drones, two supply chains dominated by China, after triggering Section 232 to measure industrial dependency risks.
The 2025-2034 development plan presented by Terna includes strengthening Sicily’s grid, new interconnections, and major projects to support the region’s growing renewable energy capacity.
Terna and NPC Ukrenergo have concluded a three-year partnership in Rome aimed at strengthening the integration of the Ukrainian grid into the pan-European system, with an in-depth exchange of technological and regulatory expertise.
GE Vernova has secured a major contract to modernise the Kühmoos substation in Germany, enhancing grid reliability and integration capacity for power flows between Germany, France and Switzerland.
The National Energy System Operator forecasts electricity demand to rise to 785 TWh by 2050, underlining the need to modernise grids and integrate more clean energy to support the UK’s energy transition.
Terna has signed a guarantee agreement with SACE and the European Investment Bank to finance the Adriatic Link project, totalling approximately €1bn ($1.08bn) and validated as a major transaction under Italian regulations.
India unveils a series of reforms on oil and gas contracts, introducing a fiscal stability clause to enhance the sector’s attractiveness for foreign companies and boost its growth ambitions in upstream energy.
The European Commission is launching a special fund of EUR2.3bn ($2.5bn) to boost Ukraine’s reconstruction and attract private capital to the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Asia dominated global new renewable energy capacity in 2024 with 71% of installations, while Africa recorded limited growth of only 7.2%, according to the latest annual report from IRENA.
US President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act dramatically changes energy investment rules, imposing restrictions on renewables while favouring hydrocarbons, according to a recent report by consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie.