Putting policy into practice - reducing government emissions

It is very clear, and it has been for some time, that Australians want real action on climate change. This is probably one of the key reasons why the Howard government was so keen to show that Australia was meeting its Kyoto target, indeed that it was one of the only countries in the world actually meeting its Kyoto target. Does this mean that Australia was reducing its emissions? Well, technically, yes, if you accept offsetting its target using land-clearing reductions from 1990 levels as bone fide action.

On the other hand, Australia has been doing anything but cutting its emissions if you are talking about the key energy sector where emissions have soared over the last decade. This blow out, plus Australia's failure to sign the Kyoto Protocol, is probably why, in 2006, 86 per cent of Australians thought the government was not doing enough about climate change (BBC World Service “19 Nation Poll”). By 2007, climate change had become the number one issue of public concern (News Limited release January 17, 2007).

This failed to convert Prime Minister John Howard away from his increasingly isolated position of “climate sceptic”, although he did move as far as “climate realist”, by which he still meant not jeopardising jobs or the economy by acting on climate change. It is now widely acknowledged that his failure cost him government last year, perhaps not the only reason why, but certainly one of the more critical. By 2007, 77 per cent of Australians did not trust his government on environmental issues (News Limited release January 17, 2007).

Australia's federal system of government has at least left the states free to innovate on climate change, where the federal government has been recalcitrant. Although national action on actually reducing emissions would have boosted state action significantly.

Enter Kevin Rudd as Opposition leader last year, who behaved in Prime Ministerial fashion by calling a summit in response to the Stern report, and commissioning the Garnaut review into the implications of the report for Australia's climate change future.

Now with the end of the recalcitrant Howard decade, we have moved on, with attention again turning to target setting at the international, national and state levels. Targets will need to be steep, yes, but they will also need to be robust and flexible so that they can be steepened further as necessary. Target setting is critical, but politicising target setting is a complete waste of time and diversion from action, and yet again is another delay to the really hard work of policy and process design to actually reduce emissions.

The Council of Australian Federations threw down the challenge to the federal government by agreeing last year to a 60 per cent cut on emissions by 2050, again using the usual baseline of 1990 levels. This decision signalled an about face from the farce of relying on land clearing changes and took on the challenge, albeit the long term challenge beyond current political cycles, of actually reducing emissions. Notwithstanding, however, that it has become very clear over recent years, over the last in particular, that 60 per cent may not be a steep enough cut.

If we leave the federal level for a moment, where the implications of the Garnaut interim report are now being digested before the final report, we can see that the states' 60 per cent target has already inspired new actions and the new governance arrangements that Garnaut is calling for on climate change.

In the last month, South Australia and Tasmania both announced that they would legislate to achieve this target. And Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania have all established Climate Change Councils of experts to recommend actions to meet it.

Legislative commitment by two states in one month is a huge about-face from the Howard government's do-nothing approach. The Howard government lost a decade of opportunities to embrace new Australian technologies and to innovate in response to climate change. It preferred to tout Australia as “world leading” for actually increasing emissions 8 per cent over 1990 levels by 2010 leaving the legitimacy of any bone fide state actions in serious question. Having energy emissions soar unchecked, offset by land clearance reduction over the last decade, was hardly the clever country in action.

If we turn to Tasmania, we see a real difference in its approach, with the Premier wading in and taking up the climate change challenge fearlessly in the face of a lot of “unknowns”. Climate change dominated the Tasmanian Premier's 2008 State of the State address with his announcements of the legislated target, the establishment of the Tasmanian Climate Action Council, and a range of immediate mitigation measures. These included: a carbon neutral government fleet by 2010; carbon neutral government air travel; and immediate plans for energy efficient, solar powered government buildings.

Measures like this are being announced in quick succession by the states and territories. They form part of the grab bag of government responses albeit aimed at signalling seriousness about action and an immediate need to change business as usual, which in turn sends a warning to the market to be ready to respond.

Broad triggers whether legislative or policy-based can stimulate quick action and will ready the states and territories for the carbon trading environment which will come into play, possibly by 2010. But Tasmania has gone much, much further by acting to reduce all of the state government's own emissions beginning immediately.

The problem with relying upon land clearing offsets over the last decade to help Australia meet its Kyoto target is that it has sparked no innovation in governance. So the federal government has no program or process in place to measure, reduce and, where possible, eliminate its own emissions. This is what Tasmania has embarked upon, with Cabinet in January this year endorsing a framework for reducing government emissions immediately and over the long term. By mid this year, a phase one audit will be complete of government emissions in those areas readily addressed. By mid 2009, the rest of government will have been audited as well.

Following the audit of emissions this year, reduction targets will be set by an independent body, with agency emission reduction plans in place by the end of 2008. Following next year's auditing, target setting and agency emission reduction plans will be in place, for the rest of government, by the end of 2009.

By 2010, the early emission reduction efforts of agencies will be with the Auditor General for review. The emission reduction framework will have two mid-term reviews, (in 2012 and in 2017), in the lead up to 2020, by which time the community expects at least a 25 per cent cut in state emissions.

The Tasmanian framework is designed for urgent action but is carefully planned in clear stages between now and 2020 as an interim period. It is robust and flexible and could well accommodate an emission cut above 60 per cent by 2050. It is being championed by the Premier and will drive whole-of-government change from Cabinet and the Heads of Agency level.

By 2010, the state government's carbon footprint will be known, emission reduction plans will be in place, a public monitoring and reporting system will be established, and cultural change processes will be well under way. All of this after only two years.

If we are to meet long-term emission reduction targets, in government, business and industry, and in the community, then this is the sort of detailed action that we need to urgently turn our attention to, to complement broad triggers for change. The national mandatory renewable energy target will trigger change, so will mandatory carbon reporting schemes, the carbon trading market, and legislative targets at the state and national levels. But the actions of government to reduce its own emissions is enormously significant, and will quickly spill over into public housing and public transport, and trigger entire new carbon friendly industries.

The hope is that the Tasmanian framework for reducing government emissions will lead to action beyond government at the industry and community levels, and so openness and transparency are two of the principles upon which the framework is based. “What We Have Learnt” papers will be posted on the web after each of the auditing, target setting, monitoring, reporting, evaluation and review stages because this is an iterative process where learning will be by doing. Indeed the entire effort to reduce Tasmanian government emissions will be conducted under full public scrutiny. Agency and cross agency efforts will be publicly reported against targets annually.

By all means we need to have debates about target setting. And inevitably these will become politicised. After all governments can't win on targets. They will either be pilloried for how high they set them or, down the track, pilloried for failing to meet them. But setting targets in a transparent fashion and involving the community invites the participatory action from all sectors that is needed for the most effective action on climate change.

The Australian community to this point has been virtually universally for strong and immediate action on climate change. What a futile achievement it would be to divide the community, as nothing else has, over target setting.

For a government like Tasmania, which is a small state, resource rich, but otherwise relatively poor, to start by reducing its own emissions is a smart first step. Its actions will stimulate the economy, lead by example, encourage the community, and potentially deliver the world's first carbon neutral government operations at least by 2020.

What a wonderful complement to the clean green image that Tasmania's environment inspires. Starting by reducing government emissions is also a huge public policy challenge, which will inspire new ways of working in the public sector that are faster, more co-operative, more focused and accountable. Out of potential crisis then, opportunities can be born.