POLICY INITIATIVES $180.1m For 27 Climate-Related Projects

The Government has allocated $180.1 million for climaterelated projects in the 20192020 financial year.

The money allocated by the Government in the 2019-2020 National Budget will fund 27 projects designated as climate adaptation and eight as climate mitigation.

As part of new policy initiatives,

the Government has imposed a 10 per cent Environment and Climate Adaptation Levy (ECAL) on the importation of items which use high amounts of electricity and emit chlorofluorocarbons.

These items are smartphones, freezer/refrigerator, washing machines, dryers - commercial, electric stoves, electric lawn mowers, air conditioners, television, dryers - household, dishwashers and microwaves. To better address the growing need for community relocation, a proportion of ECAL proceeds will be placed into a newly-formed Climate Relocation of Communities Trust Fund (CROC) annually to help finance the relocation of vulnerable communities affected by climate change. The Government’s commitment to the CROC is expected to attract financing from donors and development partners.

Also, a plastic bag ban will be imposed on all single use plastic bags including those with and without handles from January 1, 2020.

In addition to this, the plastic bag levy of 20 cents will increase to 50 cents from January 1, 2020, for lowdensity polyethylene plastic bags. The duty on the importation of non-woven bags will increase from 15 per cent to 32 per cent to support local manufacture of plastic bag alternatives.

The import duty on raw materials for the production of non-woven bags will decrease to zero per cent. And to encourage low environmental impact consumption, the duty on paper/bamboo straws, paper containers, paper cups, paper plates, biodegradable kitchenware and tableware and environmentally friendly cleaning chemical and detergents will be reduced to zero per cent.