Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Australia steps towards making big polluters reduce emissions
Some of the coal-burning Hazelwood Power Station's eight chimneys begin to topple as they are demolished and the station is decommissioned in Hazelwood, Victoria, on May 25, 2020

THE Australian government took a major step today towards implementing a key climate policy that would force major greenhouse gas polluters to reduce emissions.

The governing Labour Party said the so-called Safeguard Mechanism reforms are essential for Australia to reach its target of reducing emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. 

The reforms would create a ceiling on the nation’s emissions and force Australia’s 215 biggest polluting facilities to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 205 million metric tons by 2030.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in front of a live map of smoke movement during a press conference updating media on ongoing forest fires in Ontario, in Toronto [Pic: Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP]
Climate Crisis / 30 July 2026
30 July 2026

As Ontario burns, campaigners are demanding action – not more pipelines, says DAVE McKEE

A water bomber drops water while fighting wildfires In Ares, western France, July 24, 2026
Environment / 25 July 2026
25 July 2026

Emergency phone alerts could help Britain respond to rising wildfire risk, but Australia’s experience suggests they work best as part of a broader strategy, write ELLIOT CONVERY-FISHER and KATE PARKINS

ADAPT NOT REPLACE: Ger districts against a backdrop of new high-rise buildings in Ulaanbaatar / Pic: Bearded/Newspaper ‘Number One’/CC
Science and Society / 25 March 2026
25 March 2026

Coal-fired stoves in traditional homes are the primary source of extreme levels of air pollution in over-crowded Ulaanbaatar. As more people become climate-displaced, the situation is likely to worsen, write SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, November 12, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan
World / 18 September 2025
18 September 2025