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Tony Abbott does some heavy lifting at a timber factory in Melbourne
Tony Abbott does some heavy lifting at a factory in Melbourne on Friday. Photograph: David Crosling/AAP
Tony Abbott does some heavy lifting at a factory in Melbourne on Friday. Photograph: David Crosling/AAP

Tony Abbott denies China's carbon trading plan shows he is out of step

This article is more than 9 years old

‘More and more countries are going down the direct action path,’ prime minister says of grants aimed at lowering emissions

Tony Abbott has denied that China’s plan to launch a national carbon trading market shows he is out of step internationally on climate change, claiming his Direct Action policy is getting “more and more support” in Australia and abroad.

On Wednesday a Chinese government official said a national carbon market was likely to be launched by the middle of next year, along with an emissions cap for six sectors: power generation, metallurgical, nonferrous metal, building materials, chemicals and aviation.

“We hope to kick off the national market in summer of 2016, starting with a three-year trading phase before the market becomes fully functional in 2019,” said Jiang Zhaoli, a senior official within the National Development and Reform Commission’s climate change department.

But Abbott dismissed the suggestion that China’s actions showed the Coalition decision to dump Australia’s carbon pricing scheme in favour of his Direct Action plan ran against the tide of international efforts to reduce emissions.

“In fact, more and more countries are going down the direct action path,” the prime minister said in Melbourne on Friday. “Direct action has more and more support, here and abroad.

“Don’t underestimate what we are actually doing. By 2020 we will have reduced emissions by 12% on 2005 levels, on a per capita basis they are down 30% – this is amongst the world’s best outcomes.

“Sure, other countries talk about what they might do down the track, but we are actually delivering lower emissions for a better environment.”

Abbott was in suburban Melbourne to tour a woodfiller business he said had benefited from the repeal of Australia’s carbon price last year through lower power costs.

The Direct Action plan that replaced carbon pricing involves the distribution of voluntary grants to businesses that wish to lower their emissions. The government insists this policy will easily achieve Australia’s target of a 5% reduction on emissions by 2020, on 2000 levels, although several bodies have questioned this confidence.

China, by comparison, has launched seven regional carbon markets since 2013, with Qingdao, a city of 9 million people, planning to join the scheme. It is estimated the pilot carbon markets cover around a third of China’s overall emissions, although the lack of a unified national system has led to variations in each of the markets.

The plan to introduce a national scheme will unify these regional markets, subject to approval by Chinese state authorities. The national market would eclipse the EU’s emissions trading scheme, which is now the world’s largest.

In September China put its name to a list of 73 countries that signalled support for putting a price on carbon. This list includes Germany, France, Britain, South Africa and New Zealand. It also includes US states such as California and Massachusetts, as well as more than 1,000 businesses.

Australia, which was the first country in the world to repeal a carbon price, is now working out its position on emissions cuts beyond 2020. Crunch UN climate talks in Paris this year will set out a new global deal on lowering emissions, with the aim of avoiding more than 2C of warming compared with pre-industrial times.

Analysis conducted by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology states that Australia could warm by up to 5.1C by 2100 unless action is taken to curb emissions. This level of warming would have major ramifications for agriculture, human health owing to increased heatwaves, and coastal infrastructure owing to rising sea levels and extreme weather events.

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