Australia’s Clean Energy Investment Plummets Below Algeria, Myanmar, Thailand, And Uruguay
Australia’s investment in clean energy projects has slumped 70 percent since 2013, according to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). This means the country has slipped from the world’s 11th largest investor in clean energy to the 31st — below Algeria, Myanmar, Thailand, and Uruguay. This is the latest result of Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s broad attack on the country’s previously ambitious clean energy and climate goals. Abbott came into power in September 2013 and in July, Australia became the first country to repeal its carbon price, despite the fact that it was successfully working to cut carbon emissions.
Kobad Bhavnagri, an analyst at BNEF, told the Guardian Australia that the country’s renewable energy sector is “in the doldrums” and that “the government’s position has caused this.”
Australia’s government “has had some pretty strong anti-renewables rhetoric, particularly anti-wind, and wants to close certain clean energy programs,” Bhavnagri said. “The review has been particularly protracted. The industry was fearful the recommendations would be extreme and they were. It has been shattering.”
Bhavnagri is referring to the government’s review of the country’s Renewable Energy Target, which mandates that 41,000 gigawatt hours of Australia’s energy comes from renewable sources by 2020. The government has said it will review, and possibly scrap, the target in the coming months.
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http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/06/3576255/australia-clean-energy-plummets/