30th Oct 2014, 9:01 PM – Senate Carbon Farming Initiative Amendment Bill 2014 - Second Reading - Criticise the Direct Action policy

The majority disagreed with Greens Senator Christine Milne's statement that:

• Australia will use its entire 2050 emissions budget within sixteen years if no changes are made, and
• the Direct Action policy (which this bill is a key part of) will not guarantee emissions reductions.

Main idea of the bill

The bill creates an Emissions Reduction Fund so the Government can buy domestic greenhouse gas emissions reductions and offsets by reverse auction. It also makes some changes to the Carbon Farming Initiative, like introducing a 25-year-long option for carbon sequestration projects (right now all projects have to run for 100 years).

Carbon Farming Initiative

The Carbon Farming Initiative lets farmers and land managers earn carbon credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in vegetation and soils by changing their agricultural and land management practices.

Background to the bill

The Emissions Reduction Fund is a key part of the Coalition Government's Direct Action policy, which was an election commitment. It will replace the carbon price as the main part of the Australian Government's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Australia has agreed with the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which means that Australia has agreed to reduce emissions by five per cent of 2000 levels by 2020.

Read more about the changes made by the bill in the bills digest.