Action on climate change and reducing Australia’s emissions continues to treated without the sense of urgency that the crisis demands. That’s the main takeaway from last night’s federal budget.
Instead of embracing the opportunities of a ‘green recovery’, this budget continues to push a ‘gas-fired recovery’, with inadequate funding across the board.
Indeed, climate change warrants annual investment in the tens of billions, with all the economic benefits that flow from such a large injection of capital. Instead, that investment is being directed towards business and infrastructure spending, reinforcing a status quo we desperately need to move away from.
The IPCC and the Climate Council say the next decade is crucial if we want to avoid the worst effects of global warming. That imperative was nowhere to be seen in the budget.
The Budget contains no new funding to help accelerate the transition of our energy grid towards renewables, none for transmission line upgrades, low-emission firming technologies, energy generation or batteries.
Instead, there is funding for gas projects and long-term failures such as carbon-capture and storage.
The funding for a pilot into feedstock additives for the meat and livestock industry will be welcome, although the amount is small in the scheme of things.
Electric vehicles continue to be ignored by the government, with no funding for vehicle subsidies, charging infrastructure, or incentives to import or manufacture locally.
The analysts at Renew Economy pulled together a comprehensive look at the highlights and lowlights from this year’s Budget address and it’s disheartening.
See here for our plan – A decade of climate action