The Albanese government has confirmed it will join Joe Biden’s global pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030, as the prime minister warned climate change is increasing the frequency of Australia’s extreme weather events.
Guardian Australia revealed in June that Labor was considering signing the pledge, and the climate change minister Chris Bowen confirmed on Sunday Australia would be joining more than 100 other countries by making the commitment in the run-up to United Nations-led climate talks in Egypt next month.
Signatories to the global pledge agree to undertake voluntary actions in their countries to reduce emissions of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Reducing methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels is a global goal, not a national target.
Labor has earmarked $3bn from the government’s $15bn national reconstruction fund to support agricultural methane reduction and other clean tech initiatives. A further $8m has been allocated to the seaweed industry to support the commercialisation of the feed supplement asparagopsis, and Labor will direct another $5m in Tuesday’s budget towards identifying and commercialising alternatives.
Australia considered signing the methane pledge in the run-up to last year’s climate summit in Glasgow, because the Morrison government was lobbied by the Biden administration to make the commitment. But Australia refused at that time because the National party would not support methane cuts.
With multiple flooding events continuing to cause havoc in the eastern states, Albanese warned on Sunday the current disaster would continue to play out for weeks. The prime minister said Tuesday night’s budget would establish disaster-ready funding “to get ahead of these issues” with better mitigation planning.
He said the link between climate change and extreme weather was clear. “We need to recognise that climate change is having an impact,” Albanese said.
“We’re seeing more frequent events and they’re more intense when they occur.”
The UN’s climate assessment says methane has caused about 0.5C of global heating, second only to the 0.8C caused by carbon dioxide. According to Australian government data, agriculture is responsible for 70m tonnes of CO2-e from methane, coalmining is responsible for 28m tonnes, followed by 18.7m tonnes from the gas industry and 9.5m tonnes from waste.
The National Farmers Federation has opposed signing the pledge in the past, but has now backed the decision after funding commitments and assurances from the government that the voluntary pledge will not escalate to a tax on livestock methane, or mandated reductions of livestock.
Earlier this month, New Zealand flagged a levy on methane emissions, with the money raised to go into research to help the industry lower emissions.
The NFF’s chief executive Tony Mahar said on Sunday “the strong assurances and partnership provided by government mean the pledge will not negatively impact on farmers or the agriculture sector”.
Australia’s gas sector also welcomed the decision. The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive Samantha McCulloch said the industry was focused on attempting to reduce fugitive emissions from production.
McCulloch noted a number of gas companies were already direct signatories to the methane pledge or had “emissions reduction targets consistent with, or going beyond, the pledge”.
Confirmation of support for the methane pledge comes ahead of the resumption of federal parliament this week, with the Albanese government’s first budget to be delivered on Tuesday.
In a round of pre-budget interviews on Sunday, the treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed Labor would not extend the low and middle income tax offset (LMITO), meaning workers earning less than $126,000 will not get a tax break, worth up to $1,500, beyond 2022.
The treasurer said the government would attempt to address some of the current cost-of-living pressures with a focus on childcare, paid parental leave, pursuing cheaper renewable energy, and cheaper medicines.
Chalmers also confirmed that real wages would continue to go backwards because inflation is now forecast to be higher for longer. The treasurer said Tuesday night’s budget would point to an improving trajectory for wages but real growth would not occur until inflation was brought to heel, which could be another two years.
Treasury says inflation will peak in the December quarter, as expected, at just under 8%, but officials now expect Australia’s cost-of-living squeeze will be more protracted, largely because of the spike in power bills.
Chalmers said high inflation meant higher indexation for many government benefits. This would add $33bn to the bill for pensions and payments.
Higher inflation and low unemployment will also boost tax revenue by $100bn over the first two years of the forward estimates period, but the treasurer suggested on Sunday, much of that windfall would be banked.
“Our responsibility when we’ve got lots of inflation is not to spray money around in an indiscriminate or untargeted way because that would make our inflation problem worse,” Chalmers told the ABC.
“We will take a really responsible approach to these revenue upgrades.”
The opposition leader Peter Dutton, who will deliver his first budget reply on Thursday, told Sky News families were looking for help to deal with cost-of-living pressures, and the government was doing little to alleviate the pain.
