Date: 18th September 2026
Submitted to: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
Short Description
The Smart Energy Council provided a submission to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s Safeguard Mechanism Review, calling for the scheme to become a stronger driver of genuine industrial decarbonisation.
While supporting the role of the Safeguard Mechanism, we emphasise the need to accelerate direct emissions reductions and reduce reliance on carbon offsets.
Our recommendations include tightening baseline decline rates, limiting offset reliance, expanding scheme coverage, reforming fossil fuel concessions and strengthening carbon leakage protections to support investment in clean technologies and industrial electrification.
