‘Heroic’ Australia sets new tone for Glasgow meeting

After adopting a net-zero target for 2050, Scott Morrison has attempted to flip the narrative about Australia for the Glasgow climate summit from laggard to one of enabler in the global journey to decarbonisation. Domestically, the Prime Minister has crafted a plan that allows his Nationals colleagues to advocate for mining industry jobs and invites his opponents to move further from the centre ground. Rather than a detailed plan, Mr Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor on Tuesday brought together the government’s big-picture thinking on programs already in place and how they believe technological development will ultimately deliver. Australia will act in its self-interest to exploit the economic opportunities that will arise, and has asked major economies and regional partners to work with us.

Mr Morrison has won early praise from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said: “They’ve done a heroic thing, the Australians, in getting to that commitment (net zero by 2050).” Anthony Albanese said the Prime Minister had announced “a vibe” rather than a target. But he said Labor would wait until after the Glasgow summit had finished before finalising its own policies, which currently include a 2050 target but nothing for 2030.

Mr Morrison has stared down demands that Australia increase its 2030 reduction targets and made it clear there will be no support for Mr Johnson’s ambitious plan to end fossil fuel production in developed countries by 2030 and developing nations a decade later. Instead, Mr Morrison says, his plan will protect existing jobs and grow the economy. Despite not increasing its 2030 target, Mr Morrison said Australia would likely achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 35 per cent by 2030, higher than the 26 to 28 per cent reductions below 2005 levels pledged in the Paris Agreement. He described the weeks of hard-fought negotiations with the Nationals as a demonstration of the plan’s credibility. Mr Morrison said voters wanted a party that had actually considered the issue deeply and wrestled with it. He said the quality of debate was a “badge of authenticity” on the plan to cut emissions, while also protecting jobs and livelihoods. The fact he has delivered the net-zero goal with his position enhanced is a remarkable achievement. There was little detail on Tuesday on exactly what the Nationals MPs had won, other than a promise for the Productivity Commission to review the impact of its implementation every five years. But there is the suggestion of new streams of income for the rural sector through soil carbon programs across 90 million hectares of productive land.

Overall, Mr Morrison has stuck to the Liberal Party’s philosophical roots of letting private sector innovation, rather than public sector dictate, take the lead. It is also pragmatic, recognising that global financial markets and other nations are determined to move. Mr Morrison said the government can see what is happening around the world and “can’t just let it happen to us”. The government has chosen a response it says will grow the economy by delivering the products and services that our existing energy and commodity customers want in the future. In doing so, Mr Morrison argues there is a big environmental aspect to the challenge of net zero but also a strong economic imperative for the nation. Defending his government’s decision not to set a higher 2030 target, Mr Morrison said he was keeping faith with what he had promised voters at the last election. He has learned the lessons of history, including Julia Gillard’s introduction of a carbon tax, while inviting the ALP to outbid him on ambition.

The plan set out on Tuesday sees technologies already identified in the investment road map, including hydrogen, driving down emissions by 40 per cent in the period to 2050. Global technology trends will contribute a further 15 per cent, offsets a further 20 per cent, and additional technological breakthroughs not yet envisaged a final 15 per cent. A robust offset market will allow higher emissions activities to continue while establishing a potentially significant global opportunity because of our big land mass and trusted verification methods. Mr Morrison was never likely to satisfy the extreme demands of climate maximalists who demand higher 2030 targets and a pledge to quickly abandon fossil fuels. But the government’s plan will represent a point of engagement for other world leaders grappling with the difficult task of delivering emissions reductions while safeguarding jobs and economic activity. A major diplomatic effort has paved the way by spelling out exactly what Australia has been doing. Mr Taylor repeated the achievements on Tuesday; greenhouse gas emissions had been cut by 20.8 per cent since 2005 while the economy had grown by 45 per cent and commodity exports boosted by 200 per cent. This was a better performance than comparable developed nations and emissions growth of 86 per cent in India and 70 per cent in China over the same period. The message Mr Morrison says he will take to Glasgow is that the actions of Australia speak louder than the words of others. It is a pitch to the centre that the government believes applies to its domestic rivals as well.