STORY: Fuel efficiency standard delays hurting Australians: climate advocates
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 4, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 4, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:04
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT/OTHERS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of cars on Canberra's streets
2. various of scenes of a petrol station
3. images of a proposed model for a fuel efficiency standard by the end of 2023
4. various of electric vehicles

STORYLINE:

Climate advocates have criticized the Australian government for failing to meet its deadline to introduce fuel-efficiency standards.

The governing Labor Party in April 2023 committed to developing Australia's first fuel efficiency standard to incentivize car manufacturers to supply more low and zero-emissions vehicles.

At the time the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Bowen, said that the government would release its proposed model for a fuel efficiency standard by the end of 2023.

However, the government missed that deadline and is facing criticism from environmental advocates.

Jennifer Rayner, head of advocacy at the Climate Council, a non-governmental organization, on Wednesday said that delaying the policy was hurting Australians.

Polling released by the Climate Council in November found that 49 percent of Australians were in favor of introducing a standard compared to 17 percent who were opposed.

"Every day we delay putting a fuel efficiency standard in place, Aussies are missing out on the three-in-one benefits of cheaper costs, cleaner air, and greater choice," Rayner told Guardian Australia, the online Australian edition of British daily The Guardian.

Australia is one of only two countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that does not have a fuel efficiency standard along with Russia.

In September, Bowen reiterated that the government would legislate ambitious fuel efficiency standards but said that the complicated nature of designing them had caused delays.

Tony Weber, chief executive of peak industry body the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), said on Wednesday that it was really important the government takes its time to get the policy right for the benefit of consumers.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)