CCPI: Australia goes backwards two places in Climate Change Performance in 2025 report

This year Australia moved backwards two places in the annual Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). The national experts cited the still substantial fossil fuel subsidies and policies to incvrease Fossil Fuel production.

The report lists 3 key outcomes:

• Australia drops two ranks in the current CCPI, to 52nd and among the low-performing countries
• Fossil fuel subsidies have declined and been redirected to other industries. However, some major fossil fuel subsidies remain.
• Key demands: stop approving and signalling support for the expansion of fossil fuel production

The National Experts explained:

Australia dropped to 52nd and among the low-performing countries. It receives a medium rating in GHG Emissions, low in Renewable Energy and Climate Policy, and very low in Energy Use.

Australia’s 2030 national target is to reduce GHG emissions by 43% from 2005 levels. The country plans to achieve net zero by 2050. The CCPI national experts welcome these targets and Australia is now nearly on track to achieve its 2030 emissions reduction target.

The experts further note that since the election of the current government in mid-2022, fossil fuel subsidies have declined and been redirected to other industries.  However, some major fossil fuel subsidies remain, including the Fuel Tax Credit scheme which subsidies the fuel taxes paid by a range of sectors, including fossil fuel mining. Australia is among the 10 countries with the largest developed coal and gas reserves, and is currently planning to increase its production.

Guest Post: Labor’s scheme to cut industrial emissions is worryingly flexible

 

BHP steelworks at Port Kembla Phto: John Englart

Rebecca Pearse, Australian National University

The federal government today proposed new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s polluting industrial sector. The rule changes apply to a measure known as the “safeguard mechanism”, and are supposed to stop Australia’s top 215 emitters, such as new coal, oil and gas projects, from emitting over certain thresholds, or “baselines”.

The safeguard mechanism was established by the Abbott Coalition government in 2016. It’s been widely criticised for lacking teeth – indeed, industrial emissions have actually increased since the mechanism began.

The safeguard mechanism was reviewed last year and Labor had promised a revamp. The fine detail of the changes is crucial, because it will determine how well Australia brings down its emissions on the path to net zero.

So would Labor’s proposed reforms, if implemented, be effective and equitable? Unfortunately, it appears no. They involve only very modest changes to a very flexible regime, and many issues plaguing the safeguard mechanism under the previous government continue.

Australia improves Climate Change Performance ranking slightly in CCPI 2023 report

CCPI overall rating for 2023

At the UN Climate Change conference the latest Climate Change performance Index for 2023 was launched.

The good news? Australia has improved its overall ranking by 4 places, mainly due to improvement in international climate policy..

It recognises the new 2030 climate targets while saying the target is still insufficient. The ramping up renewables and EV tansition is still in the early development stages. There is criticism that Australia has no plan to phase out coal and gas, and the Safeguard mechanism is also criticised as being insufficient.

Australia is still in the very low performing countries and is behind many other developed nations.

So what is the decarbonisation path forward for Australia to improve its ranking?

"To align with a well-below-2°C trajectory, Australia must halt gas and coal mining for both domestic use and export, end fossil fuel subsidies, take further action to reduce GHG emissions from transport, and further increase its NDC ambition."

Australia votes for climate action in 2022 Federal election

Image: In the polling booth with How to vote cards and ballots

(This is from an email briefing to international climate colleagues)

We take heart that in Australia we have changed the government. Citizen concern with lack of action on climate change was a large part of this as surveys and polls showed. Many of us have been working hard in the background for weeks and months with community campaigning, holding forums, letterboxing, and some joining candidate campaigns to bring about this result.

We still don't know if it will be a Labor minority or small majority government as preferences are counted in several close electorate contests. The major conservative Party - the Liberal Party -  suffered a 20 odd seat defeat. But Labor only picked up some of these seats. A loose alliance of Community Independents - the Teal Independents - picked up at least 6 seats from the Liberal Party in their heartland electorates. The Greens also increased their numbers from 1 MP to 3 MPs, and possibly a couple more. 

Nationally, all major parties suffered swings against them and with increased support for Independents and the Greens.  

Labor Climate Policy for 2022 Federal Election, and science based climate targets

The Australian Labor Party  announced on 3 December 2021 they would be taking to the next election (sometime in the next 6 months) an interim emissions target of 43 percent reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels. This is 2% lower than the target they had for the previous election in 2019.

The Coalition Government are taking their current interim emissions target of 26-28 percent reduction in emissions reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels to the next election. This target was set in 2015 before COP21. They have now committed to Net zero by 2050. But Resources policy shows the Coalition Government expanding coal and gas production. See the deconstruction of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's statement to COP26.

Here is the Labor primary climate policy, Powering Australia. It is a  pragmatic policy document trying to incorporate enough ambition while being a small target and avoid some of the expected attacks from the Coalition. It includes an economic costing of the policy. The Labor Interim emissions target for 2030 is 43%, which is below the 45% the ALP took to the election in 2019.

Australia ranked last on climate policy in a global list of 64 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index at COP26

Climate Change Performance Index rating for 2022

Another area where Australia is a true laggard is climate policy. 

The Climate Change Performance Index rated 64 nations on greenhouse gas emissions, renewables, energy use and climate policy. Australia was listed way down the bottom on greenhouse gas emissions, renewables, energy use and very last (64th) on climate policy. 

We ranked 58th overall.

IPCC report, Labor climate policy and targets: Email to Peter Khalil MP for Wills

The following email was sent to Labor MP for Wills, Peter Khalil on 16 August 2021. As of 12 September 2021 there has been no response or acknowledgement of this email. 

Politician responses to the record extreme heat for Australia January 2019

I've done some tracking on twitter across the political divide on climate and the heatwave events, going back to 22 December 2018 (the start of Christmas/New Year 1st heatwave event). December and January were record hot for Australia.

Australia performs very poorly in 2019 Climate Change Performance Index

Australia was ranked 55 out of 60 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index published in December 2018 during COP24 UN Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland.

The index shows only a few countries have started to implement strategies to limit global warming well below 2 or even 1.5°C. The countries of Sweden and Morocco are leading the field.

While there is a continued growth and competitiveness of renewable energy, especially in countries that had low shares before, the CCPI shows a lack of political will of most governments to phase out fossil fuels with the necessary speed.

ALP conference acknowledges climate emergency and IPCC 1.5C report, but not the need to Stop Adani and phase out coal

Federal ALP conference has adopted a climate change motion that highlights the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C and that we are in a climate emergency. Labor MP for Batman (being renamed Cooper), Ged Kearney, moved the motion on climate change at the ALP national conference.

The contemporary challenge:

There is no longer any credible or serious scientific doubt that human-induced climate change represents a massive risk to Australia and the world. The recent IPCC report indicates that we are experiencing a climate emergency and, as a result, meaningful action on climate change is urgent, at home and internationally. Labor will take strong action on climate change to mitigate the risks and impacts of climate change on Australian society and economy, and to take advantage of the opportunities transitioning to a low pollution economy represent for workers, businesses and Australia more broadly.

The motion was carried, without a vote from the floor.

Deciphering Australia's High Level statement to COP24 by Melissa Price

As I watched and listened to Australian Environment Minister Melissa Price statement on behalf of Australia to the High Level Segment of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Conference of the Parties (COP24), I decided I wanted to annotate, correct falsities, mistruths or distortions and place her words into political historical context. I transcribed her speech, then circulated it inviting other people to add details. Several people did so, and I fact checked these contributions, but most of the annotation were my own.

Australia displayed a total lack of ambition, in stark contrast to quite a few other nations who made announcements of increased climate ambition actions.

• No mention was made of the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C
• No mention was made on the need for raising Australia's ambition in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)
• No mention of lifting Australia's targets, currently rated as insufficient.
• No mention that Climate Finance has been incorporated as part of the Foreign Aid budget which has suffered substantial real reductions over the last four years.
• No mention was made of Australia continuing to expand coal export trade and the protests and opposition to the Adani Carmichael mine.
• No mention of latest energy policy announced by Energy Minister Angus Taylor for Federal Government support for existing and new coal fired power stations
• No mention that Prime Minister Scott Morrison withdrew the minimal funding support to the Green Climate Fund in October 2018.
• Some of the actions being lauded, such as the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Government actually tried to abolish but had been stymied by a hostile Senate.
• Use of excess Kyoto credits as carryover to meet Paris 2030 targets not ruled out

The transcription was based on the UNFCCC on-demand video of the second part of the High Level Segment conducted on Wednesday 12 December 2018. An un-annotated version of Minister Price's speech to COP24 follows at the end.

See Also Tracking Australia's Environment Minister Melissa Price at COP24

Climate policies on the rise globally, but ambition level still lacking

The latest assessment of country emissions and climate policies aggregated globally shows that there is still a substantial gap to meet, according to Climate Analytics, who have been analysing and tracking country climate policies and global emissions for the last decade on their Climate Action Tracker website.

If all governments achieve their largely insufficient climate targets, the world will see 3.0˚C of warming by 2100, twice the 1.5˚C limit they agreed in Paris three years ago their latest analysis shows. This analysis does not include the potential for climate feedbacks and tipping points in the climate system that might boost the level of global warming to 'Hothouse Earth' conditions (Study).

Current Government pledges in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to warming of 3.3˚C.

If governments were to implement the planned or additional policies they have in the pipeline, warming would also be limited to 3.0°C by 2100.

Guest Post: Frank Jotzo on Labor's new energy policy using the #NEG and the need to do so much more

Labor's policy can smooth the energy transition, but much more will be needed to tackle emissions

Frank Jotzo, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

The Labor party’s energy policy platform, released last week, is politically clever and would likely be effective. It includes plans to underwrite renewable energy and storage, and other elements that would help the energy transition along. Its approach to the transition away from coal-fired power is likely to need more work, and it will need to be accompanied by good policy in other sectors of the economy where greenhouse emissions are still climbing.

The politics is quite simple for Labor: support the transition to renewable electricity which is already underway and which a large majority of Australians support, and minimise the risk that its proposed policy instruments will come under effective attack in the lead-up to the 2019 election.

Australia and coal at Bonn Climate conference #COP23

First published at nofibs.com.au

On an international level, the politics around climate action have moved substantially since 2015 and the signing of the Paris Agreement. I was at the UN climate change conference in Paris – COP21 – and it was a significant moment.

But the politics in Australia is still heavily mired in the past, and the vested interests that make up our energy and mining sector. The Federal climate and energy policy of the Abbott/Turnbull government, including the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) is all built around prolonging coal use, impeding the growth of renewables and the energy transition, and doing as little as possible to meet Australia’s already ‘insufficient’ climate targets, let alone more ambituous targets needed for our fair share of global action.

Public Opinion Polls: Australians want climate action, renewables expansion

Two sets of opinion surveys highlighted how far ahead the Australian population is on climate and energy policy than the Federal Government and Liberal and National party policy.

The opinion polling by Essential Vision provides a national snapshot in areas such as belief in climate change, Labor's 50 per cent by 2030 renewables target, cause of the recent electricity blackouts in South Australia, whether renewables are a solution for our future energy needs, whether the Federal Government is doing enough on clean energy, and attitude to building more coal fired power stations.

The Victorian survey was larger and more nuanced by a private survey consultancy done for Sustainability Victoria. It showed much greater degree of support for climate action, renewables, the Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET), and the Victorian zero emissions by 2050 target. There was a high self-efficacy that everyone: individuals, businesses, environment groups, and the 3 levels of government, need to be taking considerable climate action, and that this should preferably be lead by the Federal Government.

It is notable that just last week the Coalition parties in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia all decided to abolish any state imposed renewable energy targets. This action would seems to be at odds with national opinion, but especially so in Victoria where there is much greater awareness and sense of urgency in tackling climate change. Opposition to the VRET appears to be a major backflip for Shadow minister for Renewables David Southwick.

The results should bolster the Federal Labor leadership under Bill Shorten to stick with their 50 per cent renewable energy target and ambitious climate policy that includes introduction of an Energy Intensity Scheme for the electricity generation industry.

For Turnbull, the results show his governments attacks on renewables and talking up 'clean coal' are not cutting through. In fact arguing against public opinion is probably making things worse in lowering public esteem for the Liberal Party.

The Victorian survey was released on the same day the Victorian Climate Change Act passed the Legislative Council (Upper house) and augers well for introduction of a Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) through legislation later in the year.

Guest Post: “We’ll always have Paris”

This detailed, but succinct analysis of the United Nations climate conference at Marrakech, COP22, by the Heinrich Boll Foundation is well worth reading. The authors are Lili Fuhr, Liane Schalatek, and Simon Ilse. The original was published 1 December 2016 and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons- Share-Alike licence.

At the UN’s COP 22 climate conference in Marrakech, the international community closed ranks despite (or perhaps because of?) the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president. Thanks to its swift ratification by currently more than 110 countries, negotiations on the technical implementation of the Paris Agreement could begin. The pace must increase significantly, however, if the 1.5°C limit is still to be met.[1]

The Paris Agreement entered into force on the 4th of November, two days before the opening of the climate conference in Marrakech. A majority of states had ratified the agreement in their national parliaments. Never before have so many countries joined an international agreement in such a short time – a mere ten months. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon praised the determination of the states in the last speech of his tenure at the conference in Marrakech. Shortly thereafter – two days into the summit – the elation vanished abruptly. The clear election victory of Donald Trump – who has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and questioned the gamut of U.S. international commitments – depressed the mood in Marrakech. The well-founded fear that Trump would back out of the Paris Agreement and reverse all of the achievements of his predecessor Barack Obama, or even cancel U.S. membership in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dominated almost all discussions. The intended broad theme of the conference – climate change in Africa – thus took a back seat.

A lot is at stake for the continent: Africa already suffers heavily from the impacts of climate change. African governments are calling for financial and technological support as well assistance in building their capacity for the implementation of their national climate plans – and not just with regard to climate protection, but especially on the much more urgent issue of climate change adaptation.

Multilateral assessment of Australia at COP22 for climate action

Australia was under the spotlight at COP22 in Marrakech as part of the SBI multilateral assessment process for climate action. You can read the 31 pages of written questions and responses already on record (PDF).

Each country was allocated 30 minutes of live questioning following a brief statement by the country being questioned.

Europe was up first with their statement and then questions from USA, New Zealand, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Singapore, China. Europe then responded to these questions.

Then it was Australia's turn with Australia's lead negotiator Ambassador Patrick Suckling saying that the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) is delivering real emissions cuts and that Australia is on target for meeting 2020 and 2030 targets.

Guest Post: Global climate talks move to Marrakesh: Here's what they need to achieve

As the Paris Agreement enters into force on November 4, 2016 this article provides a good summary of what the UN climate talks at Marrakech COP22 needs to do to be broadly seen as successful.

Adil Najam, Boston University and Henrik Selin, Boston University

Even though evidence on an ever-worsening global climate keeps pouring in with alarming frequency, the last 12 months have, in fact, been a relatively good year for global climate policy. Next week, the world’s countries meet in Marrakesh, Morocco, to follow up on the gains made at Paris last year, and to try to reconcile these two facts.

Turnbull increases climate aid for Pacific at Regional leaders meeting

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attended the Pacific Leaders' meeting forum, and announced a small increase in climate related aid for the region. But this comes after the Abbott Government slashed Australia's foreign aid budget to extremely low levels in 2014.

Related: Pacific pariah: how Australia’s love of coal has left it out in the diplomatic cold | Pacific Island nations lead in ratification of Paris Agreement on climate change

Guest post: Pacific pariah: how Australia’s love of coal has left it out in the diplomatic cold

Tony De Brum with Coalition of High Ambition at Paris COP21. The Marshall Islands helped to galvanise what became an inexorable push towards a 1.5-degree target in Paris
Photo: John Englart, CC BY-SA

Wesley Morgan, The University of the South Pacific

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will have some explaining to do when he attends the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting in Pohnpei, Micronesia, this week.

Australia’s continued determination to dig up coal, while refusing to dig deep to tackle climate change, has put it increasingly at odds with world opinion. Nowhere is this more evident than when Australian politicians meet with their Pacific island counterparts.

It is widely acknowledged that Pacific island states are at the front line of climate change. It is perhaps less well known that, for a quarter of a century, Australia has attempted to undermine their demands in climate negotiations at the United Nations.