THE Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has backed Professor Garnaut’s climate change report, but warns the absence of a global climate agreement and transitional emissions trading scheme (ETS) could make it ‘environmentally ineffective’.
According to the MCA, the report addresses key aspects to combat global warming — an efficient ETS, credible global agreement, and development of technologies to lower emissions.
MCA chief executive officer, Mitchell Hooke, says if no global agreement is in place when the Australian ETS begins in 2010, it will be environmentally ineffective and socially disruptive.
Mineral processing plants are known emitters of carbon dioxide, and will be affected by the proposed ETS.
The scheme will involve companies paying for permits to release emissions into the atmosphere. The initiative is hoped to encourage businesses to reduce their emissions or launch into low-emissions technologies.
Professor Garnaut’s report found that clean coal technologies will be central to reduce emissions, and their development is fundamental to Australia’s global efforts to significantly reduce emissions.
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