2 July 2014: The Climate Change Authority's response to the Minister for the Environment's request that it review whether Australia should have an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been published.
On 15 December 2014, Minister for the Environment requested a Special Review under Part 3 of the Climate Change Authority Act 2011(Opens in a new tab/window).
The Review had three phases:
- Post-2020 targets: the Authority released a draft report on Australia’s emissions reduction targets for public consultation in April 2015, and its final report on targets on 2 July 2015.
- Consultation paper: the Authority released a draft report on Australia's climate policy options on 30 November 2015.
- Australia’s action: the Authority released its final report on the action Australia should take to implement outcomes flowing from the Paris climate conference.
Review Publications
Following the release of several consultation papers, the Authority has published three publications:
Towards a climate policy toolkit: Special Review of Australia’s climate goals and policies
Report Three of the Special Review recommends policies Australia should implement to deliver on its international climate change commitments. The Authority recommends a ‘toolkit’ of policies because it found there is no single climate policy that can reduce emissions cost effectively across all sectors of the economy. The Authority’s recommended toolkit builds carefully on existing policies and incorporates some new ones.
Policy options for Australia’s electricity supply sector—Special Review research report
As part of the Special Review, the Authority evaluated several emissions reduction policies for Australia’s electricity supply sector. This research report explains the Authority’s analysis.
First report of the Special Review: Australia's future emissions reduction targets
The Climate Change Authority recommended an emissions reduction target of 30 per cent below 2000 levels by 2025. The report, released in July 2015, completed the first phase of the Special Review of Australia’s climate action requested by the Minister for the Environment.
This consultation paper- a draft report for the Special Review - recommended future emissions reduction targets for Australia. The draft report was intended as an input into the Government’s deliberations on Australia’s targets. The Government announced Australia’s targets August 2015.
Comparing countries’ emissions targets: A practical guide
The Authority also published a practical guide for comparing country emissions targets - a key consideration for the Review. The guide explains the criteria that the Authority used to make the comparisons and includes examples.
Many stakeholders contributed to the Special Review, including through submissions to Report Two on Australia’s policy options on modelling of electricity sector policies and the draft report on targets.