Tell the Government: Tackle Methane, Fix the Safeguard Mechanism

The Albanese Government is in the midst of intense last-minute negotiations over a critical climate policy: the Safeguard Mechanism.

This is the best shot we have to get Australia’s biggest polluters, the Dirty Dozen, to actually pull their weight and reduce their climate emissions.

Hundreds of Queenslanders have already spoken up, visiting Shell, Glencore and Santos Brisbane offices and emailing their MPs, asking for a strong safeguard mechanism which sets hard limits on industrial emissions and ends dodgy offset practices where fossil fuel companies can pay to keep on polluting.

In these critical late-stage negotiations, we have a chance to push the Government to reduce emissions through tackling methane emissions from new coal and gas projects.

Tell the Government to make sure that the Safeguard Mechanism forces fossil fuel companies to stop expanding and reduce their emissions.

The Albanese government has committed to reducing global methane emissions by 30% by 2030. This is a great step towards our international climate goals, to limit warming to 1.5 C under the Paris Climate Agreement. To do this, we need strong regulation to accurately measure and reduce methane

The Safeguard Mechanism is an opportunity to achieve real emissions reductions through action on methane.

Write to the Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and your Labour representatives now to tell them we need a strong Safeguard Mechanism!

Send your message

Dear Mr Bowen, Mr Chalmers, Mr Watt and Ms Wells,

I am writing to urge you to take real action on cutting Australia’s methane emissions from the energy sector by championing a robust Safeguard Mechanism.

The Safeguard Mechanism is a key opportunity for the Australian Labour Government to show leadership on tackling climate change by reducing absolute emissions from heavy polluters and limiting new fossil fuel developments.

How Australia has already disproportionately contributed to global methane emissions is alarming - despite only having 0.33% of the world's population, we have already been responsible for 1.6% of these emissions that are 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. This is far more than our fair share and must be addressed urgently.

The signing of the Global Methane Pledge, requiring a 30% reduction in the world’s methane emissions by 2030, was a great show of leadership by the Albanese Government. However, the Government must turn these words into real methane emission reduction action if we are to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree temperature goals.

Furthermore, the methane emissions reported in Queensland are significantly under reported, with satellite data indicating that they could be up to 70% higher. This highlights an urgent need to not only drive down these emissions but improve the accuracy and transparency of Australia’s methane measurements.

Readily available and affordable technologies can tackle this problem today. With The International Energy Agency reporting that controlling methane leaking from mining is one of the quickest and cheapest ways to reduce methane emissions and could result in savings of up to 75%. Together these targeted measures could reduce emissions from the global coal sector by 27% to 57%, and 55% to 98% of these coal sector measures could be implemented at negative or low cost.

The Safeguard Mechanism offers a way to make these cuts a reality. It can ensure that offsets are restricted to industries where the technology to reduce emissions is not currently available or cheap, such as cement production. All the while delivering many benefits to communities due to the reduced impact of climate change.

To make the Safeguard Mechanism strong and move toward climate leadership we are calling on the Albanese Government to:

Require mining companies to directly measure, report and verify their methane and carbon emissions; 
Enforce rapid methane emissions reduction - by requiring fossil fuel companies to cut methane emissions over the next two years to meet new methane emissions limits;
Ensure fossil fuel companies reduce their on-site emissions, and make offsetting and crediting an absolute last resort to onsite reductions.

If the Government makes these changes to the Safeguard, it really will turn a corner in Australia’s methane legacy, and lay the foundations for a National Methane Action Plan, covering all Australia’s methane emissions. Our community desperately wants to see the Government protect the current and future generations, by taking responsible action on methane now.

Sincerely,

I would like to BCC myself

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Tell the Government: Tackle Methane, Fix the Safeguard Mechanism

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