Policy Update: Australia’s Senate Inquiry recognises the “massive climate harm” of Coal Mine Methane but fails to outline steps to tackle it

This policy brief by Ember analyzes the findings of the Australian federal Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications' inquiry into the Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2022. While the Committee acknowledged the significant climate impact of coal mine methane emissions, Ember argues that the final recommendations failed to mandate rigorous measurement standards or direct onsite mitigation, relying instead on a system of offsets and declining intensity baselines that may not sufficiently address methane's specific warming properties.

• The Australian government's proposed reforms to the safeguard mechanism, via the Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2022, aim to achieve 205 million tonnes of CO2 abatement by 2030. This is to be done by implementing a production-adjusted emissions intensity baseline that decreases by 4.9% annually until 2030.
• There is a significant discrepancy between official government estimates and international data regarding methane emissions. International Energy Agency (IEA) data from 2022 indicates Australia's coal mines emitted 1,673,000 tonnes of methane, which is 60% higher than the government's 2020 estimates.
• Current methane reporting in Australia is inconsistent: underground mines use direct measurements that may lack sensitivity for absolute volume, while surface mines rely on standardized estimates rather than direct measurement. This creates a risk of overlooking 'super-emitters' and hindering the goal of a 30% reduction in methane by 2030.
• The Senate Committee recognized that Australia may be under-reporting methane emissions by 63% and acknowledged that the coal, gas, and oil sectors produce significant fugitive emissions. The Committee agreed that implementing methane abatement measures in these industries is both economically and technically feasible.
• Ember argues that using carbon offsets (ACCUs) to meet methane targets is ineffective because methane is a different gas with a much shorter lifetime and more immediate warming impact than CO2. Ember contends that 'cross-offsetting' is meaningless and that methane must be physically removed from the atmosphere.
• New entrants to the safeguard mechanism could increase total emissions of major emitters by 146 Mt CO2-e by 2029-30. Ember notes that continued coal mine expansions could increase annual coal mine methane emissions by 50% by 2030.
• Ember recommends three specific policy improvements: requiring all coal mines to adopt Level 5 measurement standards from the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0; setting separate methane intensity baselines (3 kg/tonne for coking coal and 1 kg/tonne for thermal coal); and limiting the use of offsets to incentivize onsite mitigation.

APA

Reynolds, A. (2023). Policy Update: Australia’s Senate Inquiry recognises the “massive climate harm” of Coal Mine Methane but fails to outline steps to tackle it. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/03/Safeguard-Mechanism-Policy-Update.pdf

Chicago

Reynolds, Annika. Policy Update: Australia’s Senate Inquiry recognises the “massive climate harm” of Coal Mine Methane but fails to outline steps to tackle it. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/03/Safeguard-Mechanism-Policy-Update.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Reynolds |first1=Annika |title=Policy Update: Australia’s Senate Inquiry recognises the “massive climate harm” of Coal Mine Methane but fails to outline steps to tackle it |publisher=Ember |date=9 March 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/03/Safeguard-Mechanism-Policy-Update.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{reynolds2023policy, author = {Reynolds, Annika}, title = {{Policy Update: Australia’s Senate Inquiry recognises the “massive climate harm” of Coal Mine Methane but fails to outline steps to tackle it}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/03/Safeguard-Mechanism-Policy-Update.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }