More than 200 of the nation’s heaviest polluters will be required to collectively lower their emissions over the next three decades under Labor’s climate policy to help achieve an economy-wide cut of 43 per cent by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050.

The policy was in line with demands by peak employer and business groups, but nonetheless is set to become an election battleground after the government labelled it a carbon tax before it had even seen it.