Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just officially announced that Australia is committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. This position will be taken to the upcoming Climate Conference known as COP26 next week.
Morrison promoted the work done to date regarding Austrlaia leading the world in the rate of rooftop solaradoption. Australia also has an adoption rate of renewable energy 3x faster than the US and 8x the speed of NZ.
These industrial-scale successes are largely thanks to solar farm projects and more recently battery storage.
Morrison went on to say climate change is real, it’s happen and the world’s response is changing.
Australia is fairly exposed to changing conditions globally, given much of our economic prosperity has been a result of mining exports like coal and gas. The people who work in these industries are naturally nervous about their future career potential in a rapidly changing landscape. The Government’s plan to transition Australia to net-zero focuses on making the changes, without abruptly changing that would create large-scale unemployment.
Morrison says the plan will not cost jobs in farming and mining, nor will it result in raised taxes to pay for the renewable transition.
Australia’s medium-term goal has been updated to include emission reductions up to 35% by 2030.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor reiterated the familiar mantra that they are taking a ‘technology, not taxes’ approach. They are relying on future technology innovations to reach their targets, which seems strange given much of the answer is in front of us today (read: solar+battery storage).
