Lib climate schemes 'costly, inefficient'

Age
Wednesday 21/4/2010 Page: 2

KEY Howard-era climate change schemes worth more than $1.5 billion have failed to deliver promised cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and have proved massively expensive. In one notable case, a scheme similar to the "direct action" climate policy of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott achieved only 30% of the expected cut. An Auditor-General's examination of five climate schemes based on grants and rebates found some performed poorly and most lacked clear goals. The programs continued under the Rudd government, but funding rounds have finished.

The report renewed calls for an emissions trading scheme as a cheaper and more effective way to reduce CO2 than government handouts. It found emissions cuts from a solar panel rebate scheme backed by both major parties cost up to 20 times more than reductions from an emissions scheme: $447 for every tonne of CO2 compared with an expected $20-$30. Oversubscription to the program - initially worth $4000, later increased to $8000 - blew out the budget from $286 million to an estimated $1.053 billion. It was cancelled abruptly in June 2009, after prompting substantial growth in the uptake of renewable energy.

The $400 million "greenhouse gas abatement program", introduced in 1999 to fund projects that either cut or offset emissions, reduced CO2 emissions by just 15.5 million tonnes before being abolished. Its target was a cut of 51.5 million tonnes. The assessment process for the program was found to be inadequate. No project approved in its final round met the selection criteria of large-scale cuts at low cost. Greens climate change spokeswoman Christine Milne said the criticism of the greenhouse gas abatement program showed the flaws in the opposition's current policy. "Clearly the approach they have taken is not an effective or efficient way of delivering emissions cuts," she said.

An opposition spokeswoman said its policy was closer in design to a scheme used in New South Wales than the Howard era policy and included a much broader range of measures, including boosting the amount of carbon stored in soil and cleaning up power stations. The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency said several of the programs had concluded, but it would consider the report's recommendations in relation to others.