Time to clear the air: Push for global transparency on carbon emissions

Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor reveals what actions Australia will ask the world to take on climate change ahead of the Glasgow summit.

Australia will use the Glasgow climate summit to push for greater transparency in how countries and major corporations report emissions reductions, as well as for increased investment in new technologies, and recognition for carbon credits.

Ahead of his trip to the COP26 UN Climate Change Conferences later this month, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor told The Daily Telegraph that Australia would continue to call for other governments to match its quarterly reporting of carbon emissions.

“We’ll certainly be prosecuting the case that there should be a higher level of transparency for countries,” he said.

Angus Taylor at home on his farm near Goulburn. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It is not yet known if Prime Minister Scott Morrison will also attend the summit, a possibility considered far more likely if the federal government finalises a plan for Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Asked about the government’s changing stance on the target, Mr Taylor said it was “not new” that the Coalition was committed to net zero emissions, the only debate was “how quickly can we get there”.

“We only make decisions on these sorts of policies knowing that we can reconcile the interests of Australians, particularly in regional areas, with the capacity to reduce emissions,” he said.

Mr Taylor said the government’s plan would not “tell ­people what kind of car to drive,” impose taxes or shutter energy intensive industries. Instead it would back research and development of technologies to provide Australians with a “choice” that would ultimately move markets “towards lower emissions”.

“It’s net zero — that means you can still have industries that are emitting in 2050, as long as there’s offsets,” he said.

In negotiating a net zero plan with his colleagues in the ­Nationals, Mr Taylor said he ­appreciated their concerns about protecting industries like agriculture, mining resources and heavy manufacturing.

“These are the industries where Australia’s been a world leader, so we will be a world leader again, in bringing down emissions in sensible ways,” he said.

Mr Taylor said if Australia’s major export sectors did not shift to low emissions products, they would lose customers.

“If they don’t adapt, the risk is that they do lose markets to competitors,” he said.

With a long family history of farming in the Goulburn region of NSW, Mr Taylor said he ­wanted Australia’s agriculture sector to seize the “phenomenal” opportunities soil carbon capture could offer. ”The more land you have, the more carbon you can absorb,” he said.

He said the government would seek to have these forms of carbon credits formally recognised by the international community.

Originally published as Time to clear the air: Push for global transparency on carbon emissions