Investors renew calls for tougher carbon penalties after 2035 target unveiled
Some investors are urging Canberra to widen its safeguard mechanism to cover heavy transport and power, warning current policies won’t hit 2035 targets.
Investor groups have criticised the Albanese government’s 62% to 70% by 2035 emissions target as too broad, amid calls for an expanded safeguard mechanism to capture a greater share of industry.
Investor Group on Climate Change policy analyst Frankie Muskovic told Capital Brief that while the government viewed its target as “ambitious and achievable”, she doubted its current energy efficiency and electrification policies would be enough to reach the upper end of the range.
"Australia should work towards an economy-wide carbon price and a lowering of the safeguard mechanism emissions threshold [the tonnes of emissions that companies can collectively emit] to 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year down from the current 120,000,” she said.
Lowering the threshold would effectively extend carbon pricing across more of the economy, including sectors with more diffuse emissions such as heavy trucking, which currently lacks incentives to reduce emissions as fuel efficiency standards only apply to passenger vehicles.
