Mitigation of global warming in Australia

Mitigation of global warming involves taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance sinks aimed at reducing the extent of global warming. This is in distinction to adaptation to global warming, which involves taking action to minimise the effects of global warming. Scientific consensus on global warming, together with the precautionary principle and the fear of non-linear climate transitions, is leading to increased effort to develop new technologies and sciences and carefully manage others in an attempt to mitigate global warming.Carbon capture and storage (CCS) for coal-fired power stations has been put forward as a solution to rising greenhouse gas emissions. However, CCS cannot deliver in time to avoid dangerous increases in temperatures, as widespread commercial use of CCS is not expected before 2030.Following the introduction of government mandatory renewable energy targets, more opportunities have opened up for renewable energy technologies such as wind power, photovoltaics, and solar thermal technologies. The deployment of these technologies provides opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gases.A carbon price was introduced on 1 July 2012 by the government of Julia Gillard with the purpose of reducing Australia's carbon emissions. It requires large businesses (defined as those with annual carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over 25,000 tonnes annually) to pay a price for emissions permits. The tax was scrapped by the Abbott government in July 2014 in what was a widely criticised and highly publicised move.