STATE FLEET —
CARBON OFFSETS
1335. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the
Minister for Finance:
I refer to the Tenders WA website
and the $4.5 million contract awarded on 29 November 2018 for the provision of
carbon offsets, and to my question without notice 1322 yesterday.
(1) Given that
the contract commences at the end of November 2018 and the final expiry date is
the end of December 2021, can the minister confirm that it is effectively a three-year
contract?
(2) Given the
minister stated in his answer yesterday that the annual emissions from the
government fleet are estimated at 50 000 tonnes of CO2 per annum, is
it accurate to estimate the total carbon offset contracted would be 150 000
tonnes and that under a $4.5 million contract, this equates to a contract cost
of $30 a tonne of CO2?
(3) Does the
contract include the cost of the carbon offsets themselves or does it cover
only the costs of, and I quote, ''creating a panel''?
(4) Given the
minister's answer yesterday that the value of the 50 000 tonnes of
annual CO2 offsets, and I quote, ''can range from $30 000 to
$900 000'' can the minister confirm that this equates to a value of 60c
a tonne to $18 a tonne of CO2?
(5) Can the
minister confirm therefore that unless the cost of the offsets themselves are
included in the tender, the government is spending $30 a tonne on the
administration of a carbon offset program to purchase carbon offsets for 60c to
$18 a tonne and can he justify that, or that if the offsets themselves are
included, the government is spending $12 to $29.40 a tonne of CO2 on
administration?
Hon ALANNA
CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. I answer on behalf of the Minister for
Environment, and the Minister for Finance has provided the following answer.
(1) Yes. The
contract for provision of carbon offsets—request 2018/04988—is
for an initial term of two years, with an option to extend the term for a further
year.
(2) The contract
accounts for the estimated 150 000 tonnes of offsets generated over the term of
the contract. In addition, the contract includes a further 125 000 tonnes of
offsets to be procured for previous fleet emissions. Under the estimated
contract value, this equates to an average of $16 a tonne of CO2.
(3) The estimated
contract value includes only the anticipated cost of emission offsets. The
estimated contract value indicated on Tenders WA is the expected maximum
contract value.
(4) Yes.
Dependent on the market-based opportunities available at the time of purchase,
the value could be within the range of 60c a tonne to $18 a tonne of CO2.
(5) As per (2)
and (3) above, the government is not spending $30 a tonne on administration of
its carbon offsets arrangement.