Businesses welcome nuclear and gas in COP28 declaration

Business groups have backed the COP28 declaration and urged Australia to take heed of the global summit’s agreement that gas, carbon capture and nuclear power need to be used in the transition to net zero.

Australian Energy Producers chief executive Samantha Mc­Culloch says recognition of the important role of natural gas in net zero transformation ‘should guide Australian policymakers’.

Business groups have backed the COP28 declaration and urged Australia to take heed of the global summit’s agreement that gas, carbon capture and nuclear power must be used in the transition to net zero.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said COP28 represented “a turning point” for the world because it mentioned fossil fuels for the first time, declaring they must be “transitioned away from … in a just, orderly and equitable ­manner”.

Mr Bowen was at pains to hose down the inclusion of nuclear power in the final statement – which urged an acceleration of the emerging energy source – pointing to the fact that only 20 countries had signed up to a pledge to triple global nuclear energy during the summit.

“More than 120 countries signed a renewable energy pledge,” he said.

Opposition spokesman for climate change and energy Ted O’Brien said the final communique from COP28 had “delivered a more pragmatic outcome than Chris Bowen was calling for”.

“While the final communique names fossil fuels, it also promotes carbon, capture and storage as an abating technology for such fuels along with nuclear energy which can be a zero-emission substitute,” he said.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also urged Labor to “remain technology-neutral” in its transition to net zero, rather than backing renewables above all other energy sources. “The inclusion of fossil fuels in the final statement of COP28 is a landmark development. It is the first time a reference to fossil fuels has been included in the final outcome,” ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

“ACCI maintains our position that Australia must remain technology-neutral in the transition to achieve the objective of net-zero at the lowest cost.”

Australian Energy Producers chief executive Samantha Mc­Culloch said recognition of the important role of natural gas in net zero transformation “should guide Australian policymakers to ensure policy settings help unlock (our) abundant gas reserves”.

“It also affirmed the need to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies and low-carbon hydrogen,” she said.

While the National Farmers Federation backed the “more ambitious plan” to tackle climate change, it urged Australia to step up its investment in research to deliver lower emissions agriculture without sacrificing productivity. NFF president David Jochinke also slammed the report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation evidenced at COP28, which he said was “a shallow desktop study that defaulted to lazy recommendations about shifting food sources”.

“These ideas ignore the facts and science supporting sustainable rangeland grazing systems in places like Australia, which play a critical role in feeding the world in a climate-friendly way,” he said.

“It is critical that Australia continue to demonstrate its climate leadership on the world stage.

“This includes advancing evidence-based pathways to net zero that take into account Australia’s unique and world-leading farming systems.”

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said while Australia was right to lower its emissions, this could not come at the cost of its ability to “feed the world”.

“(We’re) pitting agriculture, and by default farmers and their regional communities, against effective action on climate,” she said in a speech at the summit.

“The reality is the protein needs of the world are going to grow. Food security is now a dominant issue in so many parts of the developing world. But labelling the agricultural sector as … a ­planet-destroying industry is not helping solve the problem.”