National Australia Bank chairman Phil Chronican has called on politicians to back Labor’s 2030 emissions targets to put banks on a firmer footing as they look to reallocate trillions of dollars of funding towards new technologies to drive the transition to net zero.

As the Albanese government’s legislation to enshrine emissions reductions this decade hits resistance from the Greens and Coalition, Mr Chronican said he did not know whether 43 per cent was the appropriate number but “I do know that the more certainty the business sector has, the more efficient the investment we will make between now and then will be”.