David Littleproud

LEADER of The Nationals David Littleproud has called for ‘Scope 3’ emissions to be taken out of the Government’s climate-related financial disclosures – in a bid to stop farmers from having to take emissions baselines to access finance and enter supply chains.

The Government entered the bill the parliament in March, requiring large companies including banks and supply chains to report their emissions profile. The regulation includes scope 3 emissions or emissions from assets that are not owned or controlled by the company.

In many cases, agriculture falls into scope 3 emissions, with producers being the scope 3 emissions for processors, retailers and banks.

Mr Littleproud said the “draconian Bill” will make food more expensive amid a cost-of-living crisis, while also causing confusion and uncertainty for farmers and small businesses.

“Labor’s proposed Scope 3 measures are another example of Labor coming after the agriculture sector and making life harder for small businesses,” Mr Littleproud said.

“During a cost-of-living crisis, Labor is increasing the burden on the farming industry. This will make prices even more expensive at the supermarket checkout for families, because farmers will be forced to pass on costs and when supply goes down, prices go up.

“As Leader of The Nationals, I firmly believe Scope 3 needs to be entirely removed, given the enormous burden this would place on our farming industry, as well as the lack of data and measurement available.”

Scope 3 emissions reporting is also a trend internationally, with an UN-backed target setting organisation called the Science Based Targets initiative also requiring scope 3 reporting – supermarkets, processors and other supply chains are involved in the SBTi.

Mr Littleproud said large reporting entities could pass their risk down through the supply chain. He said Labor’s policy could also have significant compliance costs with accounting and recording on-farm emissions.

“The Bill is a compliance green tape time bomb, with Treasury’s own figures estimating this measure will cost $2.3 billion a year in compliance costs and this doesn’t include any potential cost to farmers.

“This unfair and bureaucratic burden comes despite Australian farmers already having some of the best land management practices in the world. Given there is currently no standardised method for calculating land and livestock emissions in Australia, this policy is downright dangerous.

“There are also concerns about the disclosure of data, how it will be utilised and shared and if some industry groups might be discriminated against. The United States has completely removed its Scope 3 reporting requirement, which would have otherwise pushed some farmers and other entities out of business.

“In Australia, we can fulfil our international climate commitments, without a confusing and harmful Scope 3 system.”

Source: David Littleproud