This submission expresses several concerns with the Commonwealth Government's proposed Energy White Paper.

Introduction: The submission consists of three sections: 

1. A summary of our views;
2. Our overarching concerns with the parameters of the Issues Paper, and
3. Our responses to several of the specific issue areas identified in the Issues Paper.

The Climate Institute’s overarching concerns include:

• The Energy White Paper risks embedding chronic short-termism, and needs to take a long-term view to promote efficient investment and minimise costs to investors and consumers.
• The EWP should recognise that the global imperative to limit climate change to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels is among the most significant challenges for the energy sector.
• The EWP needs to consider national emission reduction targets above and beyond the minimum national emissions reduction target of 5per cent below 2000 levels by 2020.
• The EWP should develop a credible long-term decarbonisation strategy to avoid incoherent, unstable energy policy and maximise low emission energy opportunities. 
• The EWP should consider the risks other countries’ emission reduction efforts pose to Australia’s energy exports.
• The EWP must consider the risks posed by the physical impacts of 2°C and 4°C climate change to Australia’s energy infrastructure and activities.