Consumer Behavior Change

Australian Government Backtracks on Carbon Tax

The Australian Senate has voted 39-32 to repeal the country's carbon tax after years of fierce political debate.The tax on the country’s biggest polluters was passed by a previous government. Introduced in July 2012, it charges the 348 highest polluters A$23 (£13; $22.60) for every ton of greenhouse gases they produce.However, the law has faced much criticism. Last year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition beat Labor in an election, and made the repeal a central aim of his government.The Labor party claims the tax helps to fight climate change, but the Liberals claim it penalizes legitimate businesses.Australia is the developed world's worst polluter per capita, but critics of the tax say it kills jobs and forces energy prices up.

By Mike Hower | Published 10 years ago | About a 2 minute read

The Australian Senate has voted 39-32 to repeal the country's carbon tax after years of fierce political debate.

The tax on the country’s biggest polluters was passed by a previous government. Introduced in July 2012, it charges the 348 highest polluters A$23 (£13; $22.60) for every ton of greenhouse gases they produce.

However, the law has faced much criticism. Last year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition beat Labor in an election, and made the repeal a central aim of his government.

The Labor party claims the tax helps to fight climate change, but the Liberals claim it penalizes legitimate businesses.

Australia is the developed world's worst polluter per capita, but critics of the tax say it kills jobs and forces energy prices up.

Abbott’s government says it plans to replace the law with a A$2.55 billion taxpayer-funded plan which entails industries being paid to reduce emissions and use cleaner energy.

The Labor party accused Mr Abbott of "taking Australia backwards while the rest of the world is moving forward."

Despite the repeal, Australia has promised to reduce its emissions levels by 5 percent on 2000 levels by 2020, and a target of achieving 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 remains in place.

While national governments might fumbling to address climate change, the majority of the world’s major cities have disclosed that climate change presents a physical risk to the businesses operating in their cities and are taking concrete action in response, according to a new report from CDP.

At the state level, more than a thousand business leaders in California recently urged the State to deny requests to exempt oil companies from its cap and trade program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mike Hower

Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact

Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.

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