Labor will go it alone if future parliament blocks climate legislation, Bowen says

A future Albanese government would move to enshrine its recently unveiled climate policy package into law, but would press on with its own policies and targets without legislation if a parliamentary fight became too political.

Speaking to the Emissions Reduction Summit in Sydney on Friday, Labor’s climate and energy spokesperson Chris Bowen confirmed that a Labor government would introduce a ‘climate change bill’ into federal parliament that would enshrine the party’s climate policy commitments into law.

But, doubling down on a refusal to strike a deal with the Greens or a crossbench potentially dominated by climate-friendly independents following the next election, Bowen said Labor would not budge from its own targets and policies, rather than attempt to negotiate a compromise position.

“Other countries have legislated; we think that’s the best practice. As I’ve said publicly if the parliament doesn’t want to legislate a 43 per cent target, we’ll do it without legislation,” Bowen told the summit.

“The country has had 28 energy policies in the last eight years. We need one.”

“So we’re not going to see it torn apart by the parliament. We will proceed without the legislation if it becomes political,” Bowen added.

Independent MP Zali Steggall sought support for her own climate legislation during the current term of parliament but has been hampered by the Morrison government refusing to bring the legislation on for a vote.

Following the next election, Steggall could be joined in the parliament by a wave of climate-conscious independents, lining up to challenge ‘moderate’ Liberals.

The group of ‘climate independents’ claim the Liberal moderates they are targeting have failed to push the Morrison Government to adopt meaningful climate policies, including Dave Sharma, Trent Zimmerman, Tim Wilson and Josh Frydenberg.

It raises the prospect that Labor could become dependent on the support of these independents to form government and pass legislation. The Australian Greens are also aiming to secure the balance of power in the senate by adding to their numbers at a forthcoming federal election.

Bowen indicated that Labor’s proposed legislation would adopt some features of Steggall’s climate bill, including legislating a zero net emissions target and drawing upon the Climate Change Authority as an independent body to provide expert advice to government.

“As climate change minister, I would introduce the climate change bill, and it would come up for a vote,” Bowen told the summit.

“It will include our net zero commitment, it would include our 43 per cent medium-term reduction target, and we have said that we would reinvigorate the Climate Change Authority.”

“We think that’s best practice. To have the basics enshrined in law because it provides that certain framework,” Bowen added.

Bowen said that a Labor government would use the Climate Change Authority to seek advice on potential future emissions reduction targets, but final decision making would be retained by the federal cabinet, on the direction of the climate minister.

Bowen said that Labor would look to adapt and strengthen the Safeguard Mechanism created by the Coalition, imposing facility-by-facility emissions caps on industrial emitters, to establish a trajectory towards zero net emissions.

Under Labor’s plan, industrial emitters will be able to use offsets to help reduce their emissions to a level below their set caps.

A Labor government would also use remaining funds under the Morrison government’s Emissions Reduction Fund and Climate Solutions Fund to directly purchase additional offsets, under a rebadged Powering the Regions Fund.

In his own address to the conference, federal energy and emissions reduction minister Angus Taylor attempted to play down the importance of emissions reduction targets, suggesting that targets did not help underpin investments in new industries.

“Whilst others prefer to talk about taxes and targets, those things won’t support the growth of new industries,” Taylor said.

“The only alternative to a voluntary incentive like the [Emissions Reduction Fund] is a carbon tax or a mechanism that is a carbon tax by another name, which means governments are imposing costs on businesses.”

Taylor used the summit to announce that he would be commissioning the Climate Change Authority – currently led by former Origin Energy CEO Grant King – to undertake a review of the Climate Active program, the government-backed carbon neutral certification scheme.

“It’s important that claims made through programs like Climate Active are verifiable and robust,” Taylor told the summit.

“There’s no doubt that ACCUs, for example, come with a much higher standard of integrity than many international units. Consumers must be able to trust these claims. And that trust can easily be eroded by businesses that take shortcuts to save a dollar.”