Climate trigger would have blocked dozens of major projects: Business Council of Australia

More than 80 major industrial and mining projects would have been blocked if a Greens-backed “climate trigger” was used to assess them

The Business Council of Australia has modelled the impact a climate trigger could have had in a fresh warning to the Federal Government against adopting the controversial idea.

Labor is under renewed pressure from the Greens to include the policy in its promised overhaul of Federal environmental protection laws.

Under the Greens’ proposed climate trigger drafted in 2022, all projects estimated to emit more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year would be blocked.

The peak business group’s analysis showed that if the Greens’ policy was already in place, 76 projects now up and running in WA in WA alone would not have been approved. That includes 45 in the metals and mining sector, Three projects still under development — Mineral Resources’ Onslow iron ore facility, Covalent Lithium’s Kwinana lithium refinery and BHP’s Western Ridge iron ore project – would also have been blocked.

The Greens’ proposal — which Labor has never supported — would also require ministerial sign-off for projects emitting between 25,000 and 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.

BCA chief executive Bran Black said a climate trigger would make it much harder to get major critical minerals projects approved, putting jobs, tax revenue and WA’s competitive advantage as a resource hub at risk.

“For the success of the ... the entire country, we need to ensure the Nature Positive reforms do not make the net zero transition slower and more cumbersome, or put a stop sign in front of critical WA projects, which then results in job losses and reduced economic growth,” Mr Black said.

The Federal Government has repeatedly ruled out adopting a climate trigger as it resists pressure to put a blanket ban on new fossil fuel projects.

But the BCA is concerned Labor could backflip after documents published last week listed climate change among six focus areas for consultation on the final tranche of its Nature Positive Plan.

The documents explicitly said identifying the issues didn’t amount to a commitment to shift position and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has given no indication she is prepared to support a Greens-backed climate trigger.

The Government believes it already has the right tool to regulate pollution at major industrial sites after last year overhauling the so-called safeguard mechanism.

The changes required the nation’s 215 biggest industrial polluters to cut overall emissions roughly 30 per cent this decade.

Labor was forced to strike a deal with the Greens to get it through Parliament, which included putting a hard cap on pollution under the scheme.

It also agreed to what the Greens dubbed a “pollution trigger”, forcing the climate change minister to test if a project was likely to breach the cap, and if so, change the scheme’s rules or impose conditions on the proponent.

In a statement to mark World Environment Day on Wednesday, Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young repeated the party’s calls.

“The Greens won’t be rubber-stamping any new laws that simply pander to the fossil fuel lobby, fail to protect nature, and do little to cut pollution,” she said.