Environmental Advocacy in Central Queensland (EnvA) is calling for stronger action to ensure Australia’s largest coal and gas facilities make a genuine contribution to meeting the nation’s 2035 emissions reduction target.
In its submission to the Climate Change Authority’s 2026 Annual Progress Advice, EnvA says continued expansion of coal and gas production is making Australia’s climate task harder and risks shifting the emissions reduction burden onto other sectors.
EnvA is calling for the Safeguard Mechanism to be strengthened so that increased fossil fuel production does not result in additional emissions headroom for large coal and gas facilities.
“We cannot continue to expand coal and gas production while expecting other parts of the economy to do all the heavy lifting on emissions reduction,” EnvA Director Dr Coral Rowston said.
“If Australia is serious about meeting its 2035 target, our largest fossil fuel facilities need to make a genuine and proportionate contribution to reducing emissions.”
EnvA is particularly concerned that production-linked baselines under the Safeguard Mechanism can allow increased production to result in increased allowable emissions.
The organisation is calling for stronger baseline decline rates for fossil fuel facilities and for increased production to no longer create additional emissions headroom.
EnvA is also calling for greater emphasis on real emissions reductions at the source, rather than allowing fossil fuel facilities to rely heavily on carbon credits.
“Buying an offset should not be treated as equivalent to reducing emissions from the facility itself,” Dr Rowston said.
“Fossil fuel facilities should be required to identify and implement genuine opportunities to reduce their own emissions, including methane emissions, rather than relying on other projects or sectors to compensate for their pollution.”
EnvA is also calling for greater transparency around emissions from individual facilities.
The organisation has identified significant gaps in publicly available information about why emissions from individual Safeguard facilities rise or fall. EnvA is recommending a standardised annual facility emissions change statement requiring companies to explain significant changes in emissions, including changes in production, operating conditions, methane emissions, estimation methods and expansions.
“Communities should not have to guess why emissions from a major industrial facility have suddenly changed,” Dr Rowston said.
“If companies are reporting significant changes in their emissions, there should be a clear and consistent explanation of what caused those changes. Transparency is essential if the community and government are to have confidence that reported emissions reductions are genuine.”
EnvA is also recommending that the threshold for entry into the Safeguard Mechanism be reviewed so that a greater proportion of Australia’s emissions sources are captured by mandatory reporting and emissions reduction requirements.
The submission also supports continued policies encouraging household solar, battery storage, electric vehicles and electrification, particularly in regional communities.
“The transition to clean energy is already creating opportunities for households and communities, and those opportunities should be strengthened,” Dr Rowston said.
“But renewable energy growth must be matched by stronger action from the industries responsible for some of Australia’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.”
EnvA says Australia’s climate policies need to ensure that continued fossil fuel expansion does not undermine progress towards the 2035 emissions reduction target.
“Australia needs a climate policy framework that prioritises genuine emissions reductions, transparency and accountability, rather than allowing continued fossil fuel expansion to make the task harder for everyone else.”
EnvA - CQ 