Cut carbon compo, free up money for low carb jobs

Date: 20-May-2009

The Australian Conservation Foundation has urged the Parliament to reduce assistance to polluters and put more money towards the low carbon jobs of the future as a new study shows corporate welfare for Australia’s biggest polluting companies has blown out to $16.4 billion under the revamped emissions trading legislation.

The blowout is due to the delay in introducing the full scheme and the decision to give the most polluting industries up to 95 per cent of their carbon permits for free.

A new study by RiskMetrics has found under the proposed arrangements:

  • The top 20 companies to receive handouts would get free permits worth $2.4 billion in the first full year of the scheme (2012), and $11.7 billion in the first five years (2012–17).
  • Mining and aluminium giant Rio Tinto would receive $565 million worth of free permits in the first full year of the scheme, or at least $2.8 billion over the first five years.  Last year Rio Tinto made a profit of $15.8 billion.
  • Bluescope Steel would receive $210 million worth of free permits in the first full year of the scheme, or at least $1 billion over the first five years.
  • The two-year delay to the start of the full scheme means the Government will have foregone $1.4 billion from the six most polluting industries.

“The revamped scheme’s 25 per cent target improves the chances of a good outcome at the critical UN climate negotiations in December, but ACF remains opposed to the proposed increased payments to big polluters,” said ACF executive director Don Henry.

“ACF’s support for the legislation is qualified and we will continue to push for improvements to the scheme throughout its parliamentary passage.

“I urge the Government to reduce the handouts to polluters and invest 10 per cent of permit revenue in low emission technology research, development and deployment to grow the low carbon economy and jobs of the future. 

“Industries receiving assistance should be required to improve their carbon productivity by at least 4 per cent per year, rather than the weak 1.3 per cent currently proposed, and $1 billion from the permit revenue should be invested every year in making people and ecosystems resilient to climate change.”

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