The current carbon laws are on course to reduce Australia's emissions six times more than previously estimated under the proposed Direct Action Plan of the government and at little extra cost, an independent research organization said on Thursday.
According to the Climate Institute, an independent, non- partisan research and communications organization established in 2005 and funded through private philanthropy, the current laws see Australia, by default, reducing emissions by around 15 percent on 2000 levels by 2020.
The institute confirmed that Australian carbon laws may not be perfect, but they include a legislated emission limit to ensure that Australia can achieve the reduction targets commitments successive governments have made to the Australian and international communities.
"To 2020, this equates to cutting emissions by around 790 million tons, or 1.3 times total national emissions," Erwin Jackson, Deputy CEO of The Climate Institute, said Thursday.
"Previous independent assessments suggest the Direct Action Plan would achieve around 125 million tons over the same period. Direct Action, as it stands, would see the national contribution to climate change increase not decline," Jackson explained.
"The default emission reductions achieved by the current carbon laws are at the lower end of commitments recommended by the independent Climate Change Authority, which said that 15 to 25 percent reductions are more in line with Australia's national interest of avoiding a 2 degrees centigrade increase in global temperate," Jackson said.
The Climate Institute also confirmed that far greater scrutiny of the government's plans is needed before Australia abandons an effective carbon law.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has begun steps to scrap the carbon tax, introducing a repeal bill at the first meeting of the new parliament in November.
And the coalition government has committed to implementing the Direct Action Plan. In contrast to the previous Labor government's carbon price and market-based emissions trading scheme proposal, the Direct Action Plan does not charge industries for pollution.
Instead, it would establish an emissions reduction fund (ERF) paid for from the budget, which would buy emission reductions from industry and agriculture.
