EMISSIONS REDUCTION FUND REFRESHED

The Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, has announced the Coalition Government’s signature climate change policy, called the Climate Solutions Fund, this week.

The Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) was introduced by Mr Abbott in 2015, with the scheme aiming to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions by 26-28 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030. The ERF was designed to allow for Australia to meet its carbon reduction commitments as set out by the Paris Agreement.

The Climate Solutions Fund will provide the ERF with an additional $2 billion of funding over a ten-year period, as the ERF only had $250 million of funding remaining and was due to not be funded past 2020.

Mr Morrison has lauded the ERF’s impact on the reduction of carbon emissions, with the scheme delivering 193 million tonnes of emissions reductions since it commenced 5 years ago.

“It’s been an incredibly successful program, both improving the economy and supporting the environment,” he said. “It was always our intention that we would need to extend that out to ensure we met our 2030 targets, which we will.”