The NSW government will turbocharge the state’s transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by embracing a major new goal of slashing pollution by 70 per cent in a little over a decade.
NSW will hit its current target of halving emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, but in the following five years the state is set to make even bigger gains in reductions, said Treasurer Matt Kean, who will on Friday announce the new goal of a 70 per cent reduction by 2035.
Kean – who recently informed King Charles III and John Kerry, US President Joe Biden’s special envoy on climate, about the move – said the new target was expected to attract more than $39 billion in private investment, “support” 13,000 jobs and put downward pressure on energy prices.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and Premier Dominic Perrottet.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“NSW can attract international capital, industry and talent if we seize the opportunity to be at the forefront of the low carbon global economy,” Kean said.
“Our state has the best renewable energy resources and as countries around the globe look to decarbonise, they will look to NSW.
“Now’s the time to reduce our reliance on energy sources that can be taken hostage by authoritarian regimes and switch to locally made renewable energy to build a cleaner future and protect our energy security.”
Three years ago, it was estimated that NSW would reduce emissions by only 13 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 but the state is now projected to hit 70 per cent by 2035.
Victoria has a target to reach reductions of 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, as does South Australia. Queensland is aiming to reach 30 per cent by 2030.
The more ambitious emissions reduction target has been announced just three months out from the March state election in which the Liberal Party faces a threat from “teal” independents hoping to replicate their success at the federal poll in May.
In contrast to their federal counterparts, the NSW Nationals backed the new emissions target largely on the basis of the economic benefit to the regions from renewable energy zones.
Australia’s first renewable energy zones will be established in the Central West and New England regions by 2030, with three others to follow in the south-west, Hunter-Central Coast and Illawarra regions.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announce a $7.8 billion energy deal on Wednesday.Credit: AAP
Kean said the NSW government was “determined to play a leading role in the effort to protect the planet and underwrite the prosperity of our residents for generations to come”.
NSW was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to commit to a target of net zero by 2050 and was recently ranked Australia’s most progressive state on renewable energy in a report by the World Wildlife Foundation.
One of the government’s major policies focuses on hydrogen, with a goal to set up the state as a “global hydrogen superpower” and grow the economy by more than $600 million by 2030.
Dominic Perrottet signed off on Australia’s largest hydrogen strategy in his first major cabinet decision as premier in October last year as part of a pitch to have green hydrogen jobs in NSW outstrip those in the coal industry by 2050.
The strategy says a green hydrogen industry, which involves using renewable sources such as wind and solar to split hydrogen from water, would “pave the way for a net zero emissions future while driving economic growth”.
Earlier this year, the NSW government also revealed it would commit $1.2 billion to fast-track critical transmission projects to deliver cheaper and more reliable power.
The investment was to speed up the rollout of the renewable energy zones following Origin Energy’s decision to close Australia’s largest coal-burning power station, Eraring, seven years early. It supplies 20 per cent of NSW’s energy. AGL’s Bayswater power plant in the Upper Hunter will also close no later than 2033. It was slated to close in 2035.
On Wednesday, the state and federal governments also announced an $8 billion plan to roll out critical infrastructure connecting NSW’s renewable energy zones to the national grid. The major deal will be made up of $4.7 billion in federal funding and $3.1 billion from NSW and will help connect wind, solar and other renewable energy sources to the electricity grid and into people’s homes.
Kean said a spate of devastating natural disasters had made the need to act even more pressing.
“Many communities across the country have spent the last few years choking on the dust of drought or on the smoke of bushfires. Now, many of those same communities have seen their homes and businesses inundated with one-in-a-thousand-year floods, three times in the space of nine months,” he said.
“As any of those families who have lost their homes to fire or flood, or their livelihoods to drought will tell you this fight against climate change is one that we cannot afford to lose.
“Our action on climate change will determine the prosperity of our children and define the way we are remembered by our grandchildren.”
Get to the heart of what’s happening with climate change and the environment. Our fortnightly Environment newsletter brings you the news, the issues and the solutions. Sign up here.