Next steps for Australia

Next steps on climate change

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, promised as part of the carbon price package, is due to be legislated in the first half of 2012. In the mean time, the Government has appointed a team to make recommendations on the implementation plan for the CEFC, the investment mandate and risk management approach, and on governance arrangements. They are now seeking submissions on those questions, due by 8 December.

In the coming months, Australia must deliver on the promises of the Clean Energy Future package

• kick start nation-wide energy efficiency scheme
• enter contracts to close 2000Mw of dirty coal power
• legislate the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and make sure it only invests in renewable energy

The Australian Government has committed to be part of a global deal to limit global warming to below two degrees above pre-industrial temperatures.

The World Energy Outlook 2011 found that without further action, by 2017 all CO2 emissions permitted in a pathway to meet that goal will be "locked-in" by existing power plants, factories and buildings. What that means is that, under current global policy settings and promises, all the power stations, steel mills, LNG processing facilities and aluminium smelters the climate can afford will be built by 2017, and anything more we (the global we) build after that means overshooting the 450ppm mark. This is despite the parallel finding that 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity at all.

The WEO 2011 found that to meet the two degree goal, world coal consumption must peak "well before" 2020.

The Clean Energy Bills are just the first step towards playing our part to avoid the irreversible damage of greenhouse gas pollution and dangerous climate change.