Greens Deal Paves Way to Legislate Climate Safeguard Mechanism

The Australian Labor government is getting very close to legislating its climate safeguard mechanism after reaching an agreement with the Greens party.
On March 27, the Greens announced that it would support the safeguard mechanism after securing “significant changes” to the legislation, which Labor wanted to push through the parliament this week.
The mechanism is a policy that mandates Australia’s 215 businesses with the highest greenhouse gas emission levels to cut their carbon footprint by 4.9 percent each year as Australia aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
The legislation passed the lower house on March 27 after the government struck down proposed amendments from independent crossbenchers, displeasing the MPs who sought to change the mechanism….