Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

This amendment would allow environmentally or socially beneficial projects to bypass the additionality test. That is, in essence, the reason that it is unsound. The positive list is designed to ensure credits are only issued for emission reductions or increases in carbon stores beyond what commonly occurs already. The CFI includes a co-benefits index which recognises projects that have associated biodiversity and community benefits, but ultimately the market will determine what projects come forward, and those with important co-benefits will naturally stack up better than those without. With the way that Senator Xenophon's amendment is structured, it would simply bypass what we describe as the additionality test, and therefore it remains not supported.