Safeguard Mechanism

The Safeguard Mechanism (SM) is part of a federal policy framework for emissions reduction by Australia’s biggest emitters adopted by the ALP government that was elected in May 2022. The government plans to present the required legislation to parliament to implement the policy in the next months, in time for it to become law by the end of June this year.
 
So what is the SM?
Under the SM, the 212 emitters with emissions over  100,000 tCO2/y, representing 28% of Australia's emissions, will have to reduce emissions by about 5% each year or purchase Australian Carbon Credit Units ( ACCUs). However, there are exceptions and complications.
 
A good place to try to start to understand  this is this podcast from Paul Bongiorno of The Saturday Paper - HERE, or the Climate Council - HERE 

To put emissions reductions by the SM in perspective it is useful to know  the numbers.
Australia’s emissions in 2005, on which emission reductions are based, were 621 MtCO2/y (621 million tonnes of carbon dioxide yearly).
Therefore, to achieve the 43% reduction commitment, the emissions in 2030 will need to be below 351 MtCO2/y.
Australia’s 2022 emissions were 487 MtCO2/y .
Therefore, the emission reduction to achieve the 43% reduction commitment in 2030 is 136 MtCO2/y.
The emission reductions from the SM in 2030 (if it achieves its KPI) is 38 MtCO2/y.
The emissions in Australia from exporting  80 Mt/y of LNG in 2021 was 60 MtCO2/y.
The emissions produced by burning fossil gas in Victoria in 2019 was 13 MtCO2/y.