Set emissions targets like interest rates, says leading think tank

Emissions targets should be set like interest rates, a leading energy policy think tank says, allowing industry to adapt with notice while removing the need for a future government to pass legislation through a hostile Senate.

The Australian National University's technology neutral Energy Change Institute, which analyses the interaction between economics and carbon-free energy, says the Turnbull government's move to  lock in an emissions target of 26 per cent by 2030 will put up unwieldy legislative barriers to higher emissions targets less than three years before Australia reassesses its Paris commitment.

The legislation could pass the House of Representatives as early as this fortnight with Labor support after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull secured majority support for the passage of the plan through a divided Coalition party room on Tuesday.

Read Eryk Bagshaw’s story from The Age - “Set emissions targets like interest rates, says leading think tank.”