The peak body for energy retailers and generators, the Australian Energy Council, said the passage of the Safeguard Mechanism Bill marked a significant step in the country's efforts to address climate change.
The Australian Energy Council's Chief Executive, Sarah McNamara, said "The Government should be commended on its work to steer this Bill through the Parliament. A strengthened Safeguard Mechanism will bring confidence and greater clarity to the task of decarbonisation across the economy. This has been lacking in recent years.
"To date, decarbonisation efforts have been almost exclusively led by the electricity sector. In the absence of these reforms, we could have expected that would continue to be the case.
"Other sectors of the economy need to begin their decarbonisation journey if we are to reach our emissions reduction goals. The electricity sector is already playing its part in this important work with emissions down nearly 26 per cent since their peak in 2009. They are projected to fall a further 60 per cent by 2030 from 2005, so we look forward to supporting other industries to decarbonise, including through electrification.
"In the meantime, the Safeguard Mechanism reforms seem to have struck a reasonable balance to help major industrial facilities manage down their emissions over time."
