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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-24 Daily Xml
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:53): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation questions about renewable energy and climate change.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: The conservation sector has approached us with some concerns that this Weatherill Labor government has taken a different direction from the Rann Labor government. They point out that the carbon neutral cabinet has now been dropped, the language of reducing emissions has now all been eradicated in both the climate change website and in government policy documentation. Seemingly the cap on emissions of new power stations has been dropped. Their fears seem quite well founded when you observe that the current budget papers show that the government's green power commitment will drop to 0 per cent from the end of 2014 and that it does not intend to reach its 50 per cent green power commitment that was announced many years back under the Rann era and was subsequently reaffirmed and is currently a target in the State Strategic Plan. Therefore, my questions to the minister are:

1. What is the future of the state's climate change legislation and the Premier's Climate Change Council?

2. Will the government be amending the target in the State Strategic Plan or simply reporting on a lack of ability to achieve that target?

3. Will the government remain on the National Green Power Steering Group given this seeming lack of commitment?

4. Can the minister confirm whether the government is now going to focus on climate change adaption and emissions reporting and abandon actually reducing emissions in their work?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for her most important question and her ongoing interest in these matters, and I am very pleased that she gives me an opportunity to raise some of these issues today. Climate change issues and adaptation to climate change has been something that I have been banging on about quite a bit out in the community in the very short time that I have been in this portfolio.

The carbon neutral cabinet was announced, I am advised, in January 2008. It included offsetting emissions from official air travel of ministers, the use of Fleet SA vehicles by ministers and electricity and gas use in ministerial offices and electorate offices. The offsets were to be sourced from the commonwealth's Greenhouse Friendly program, I am advised.

Greenhouse Friendly compliant carbon offsets have been purchased from Fieldforce Services in 2007-08, sourced from the Enviro Saver energy efficiency program; Greenfleet in 2008-09, to be sourced from tree plantings in South Australia to the amount of about $34,500, I think, or 2½ thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent; and Low Energy Supplies and Services in 2009, sourced from the energy efficiency program for 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

A number of factors, including volatile carbon offset prices and changing cabinet emissions, created the differing purchase costs that have been involved over that period of time. The Greenhouse Friendly program was replaced on 1 July 2010 by the National Carbon Offset Standard. Carbon offsets were not purchased in 2010-11 as there was only one National Carbon Offset Standard accredited Australian carbon offset project which traded late in that year.

Pangolin Associates is the supplier of National Carbon Offset Standard recognised carbon offsets to meet this commitment for 2010-11 and 2011-12. This has cost, I am advised, about $7,500, GST included, for 4,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The carbon offsets have come from a wind energy project in India, with nine of the 12 wind turbines located in South Australia's sister state of Tamil Nadu. This builds on our ongoing relationship with Tamil Nadu and provides assistance to that developing region. The carbon neutral government commitment was announced in February 2008 and included:

reducing 30 per cent of South Australian government greenhouse emissions by purchasing 30 per cent green power and the balance through the purchase of other carbon offsets;

reducing 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from its operations, achieved by purchasing 50 per cent of its electricity requirements from green power and the balance by purchasing other carbon offsets by 2014;

reducing emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by purchasing an equal amount of green power and other carbon offsets by 2020.

Since this announcement in 2008, there have been significant ongoing policy changes to carbon pricing and carbon offsetting at a national level. These changes include the introduction of a carbon price, changes to national carbon offsetting standards and the introduction of commonwealth schemes, such as the Carbon Farming Initiative.

The South Australian government has continually reviewed and adjusted its policy in response to the changing national carbon policy framework to ensure that South Australia's response is environmentally sound and cost-effective. In this context, the South Australian government will continue to seek cost-effective opportunities to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment. The government took a decision in its 2012-13 Mid-Year Budget Review to defer its commitment to purchase half of its electricity supplies from green power, with effect from 2014-15.

The South Australian government has been supportive over many years for continuing recognition of voluntary action when the carbon pricing mechanism transitions to an emissions trading scheme under the newly elected Rudd government. This is particularly for measurable altruistic action taken by households, such as green power purchasing. Therefore, the government welcomes the recognition of voluntary action in the commonwealth's carbon pricing legislation of the Clean Energy Act and the commonwealth's specific commitment to recognise green power when setting future pollution caps for emission trading.

Bearing all of this in mind, the South Australian government has not committed yet to a particular deferral period for its green power purchase. Each year the government reassesses its priorities for revenue and expenditure measures through the budget process, and the reinstatement of green power purchases is open to governments to consider in future budget processes. In regard to climate change, I do not think the member and I would have any difference of view about the evidence for climate change being in place and happening around the world; it is overwhelming and it is clear

The CSIRO 2012 State of the Climate report details the current evidence of climate change, if anyone needs to look up that information. The atmosphere is getting warmer and is currently measured at around 0.8º Centigrade above pre-industrial averages at the moment. I was just reading in my New Scientist today that it looks like we have locked in another 0.3 increase over coming years, which we probably will not be able to turn around.

Most of the land-based glaciers and mountain icecaps are shrinking with the meltwater contributing to sea level rise. The ocean is getting warmer, leading to unprecedented melting of polar icecaps, and sea levels around Australia have risen approximately 20 centimetres since 1880 and are continuing to rise about five millimetres per year.

The Bureau of Meteorology records show that in South Australia the climate has warmed by about 1° Centigrade since 1950. Rainfall has declined during the important autumn growing season over the last two decades. There has also been a doubling in the frequency of coastal storm surge events since the 1950s, and heatwave intensity and duration in Adelaide in the last decade have been unprecedented.

In addition to this evidence, on 4 March 2013 the Climate Commission released a report, entitled The Angry Summer. The report provides a summary of the extreme weather events experienced during the 2012-13 Australian summers and the influence of climate change on such events. The report highlights that the summer of 2012-13 was Australia's hottest summer since records began in 1910.

There have only been 21 days in 102 years where the average maximum temperature for the whole of Australia has exceeded 39°C; eight of those days happened this summer, from 2 to 8 January and 11 January 2013. The record-breaking heat was unusual because it occurred in the absence of an El Nino event. There is no great conspiracy here: this is the science and these are the facts as reported to us.

In addition to these sources, I note that an international study, reported on 12 May 2013 in the journal Nature Climate Change, predicts that the habitats of plants and animals that are currently considered common and widespread will shrink this century unless rising greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. Scientists from Britain, Australia and America said plants, amphibians and reptiles were most vulnerable as global temperatures rise and rainfall patterns change. This is something that we, as a nation, have to grapple with.

The study reported that about 57 per cent of plants and 34 per cent of animal species were likely to lose more than half the area of the climate suited to them by the 2080s if nothing was done to limit emissions from power plants, factories and vehicles. Hardest hit will be species in sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, the Amazon and Central America. This study also says that these losses can be reduced by 60 per cent if emissions peak in 2016, or 40 per cent if emissions peak in 2030.

Bearing all of this in mind, the South Australian government welcomes the commonwealth government's plans for carbon and moving to an emissions trading scheme. In addition to federal level initiatives, the South Australian government is taking action to help South Australians deal with the impacts of climate change and has demonstrated leadership across a range of areas.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The honourable members across the aisle just do not understand what is happening around the world in terms of carbon trading. They cannot lift their eyes above the horizon and they cannot think for themselves. They always follow blindly whatever tune Tony Abbott in Canberra is playing. The Liberals in South Australia haven't got a plan of their own and that is why they will never be trusted by the people of this state to be in government.

The Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act 2007 contains a target to reduce, by 31 December 2050, greenhouse gas emissions within the state by at least 60 per cent to an amount that is equal to or less than 40 per cent of 1990 levels as part of a national and international response to climate change.

The latest measure of South Australia's progress towards this target was released by the commonwealth on 15 April. The commonwealth reported that South Australia's net greenhouse gas emissions were 30.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2010-11. This means that 2010-11 greenhouse gas emissions in South Australia were almost 9 per cent lower than the 1990 baseline. In other words, South Australia's emissions in 2010-11 were less than 92 per cent of our emissions in 1990.

In addition to this target, the South Australian government launched Prospering in a Changing Climate: A Climate Change Adaptation Framework for South Australia, in August 2012. This framework will assist in managing the inevitable impacts from climate change. The key components of the framework are: regional planning for climate impacts and opportunities; coordination of state government processes, with a focus on working more closely with regions; establishing a statewide research agenda; and effectively engaging with the community by empowering regional leaders to communicate climate issues.

Further, the South Australian planning strategy, in particular the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide, provides an important policy context for our built environs, along with key programs, including a Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme, minimum six-star energy ratings for new dwellings, and demonstration precincts such as Bowden and Lochiel Park. South Australia's Strategic Plan sets a target of 33 per cent renewable electricity by 2020. Supporting these targets, the government passed the first solar feed-in legislation in Australia. Other initiatives have aided the growth of wind generation in South Australia, so that South Australia holds 41 per cent of the national installed capacity as of February 2013.

In addition to this good work, the state government released a Low Emission Vehicle Strategy in June 2012, which is designed to capture the opportunities offered by new vehicle technologies to both the South Australian automotive sector and our community, and complement the South Australian government's significant investment in public transport infrastructure. This government will never be in denial about climate change. It is beyond reasonable doubt that human activities—the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation—are contributing to the changes we are witnessing in the global climate.

This government does not fear the hard but critical actions that are necessary into the future. The Australian government has implemented a plan that will reduce our projected greenhouse gas emissions and drive investment in clean energy technology to secure a sustainable future for generations to come, and here in South Australia we are embracing those opportunities that this presents us and, additionally, have taken those actions that I have just outlined on our own.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary question from the Hon. Ms Lensink.

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