Submission to the 2026 Climate Change Authority Issues Paper

Naru Research made a submission in response to the Climate Change Authority’s 2026 Annual Progress Advice Consultation Paper which you can read here:

The submission canvasses a broad range of topics including:

• The desperate need for the Authority to take the issue of fossil fuel phase-out more seriously than it has to date, and the fact that the failure to do so is a looming credibility issue for the Authority.
• The reality that Australia is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target, with delivery of the federal government’s 2030 renewable energy target now appearing implausible.
• The likelihood that the Safeguard Mechanism will also fail to meet one of its own legislated goals.
• The mismatch between the Authority’s approach to assessing Australia’s climate performance and what is required to know whether Australia is doing enough on climate change.
• The Authority’s unfortunate failure to consider energy efficiency in their discussion about the need for reform at the household level.
• And specifically on the Safeguard Mechanism:
  • The need to make principled differentiations between sunset industries like coal and gas – which currently dominate the scheme – and those sectors with a long-term future.
  • The reality that the Safeguard Mechanism simply is not driving on-site abatement at Australia’s major industrial emitters as the widespread availability of cheap offsets has blunted the effect of the Safeguard Mechanism in full.