Net zero by 2050 ‘a valuable target’, says Business Council of Australia

A major business group has urged the Morrison government to embrace a 2050 net-zero emissions target or risk major export industries having to face new carbon tariff regimes.

A major business group has urged the Morrison government to embrace a 2050 net-zero emissions target or risk major export industries having to face new carbon tariff regimes and losing business to overseas competitors.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said Australia’s major challenge in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 was in closing the “technology gap”, which would allow the nation to move more easily to an export-oriented, low-carbon economy.

“That’s the conversation that people don’t have as much as they should,” she said. “How do you start to develop those hydrogen, green-steel industries? What’s the role of government co-investing?

“Fundamentally, the Prime Minister is right. The ‘how’ matters; the how is hugely important, and the how matters for regional communities very much.

“We need to make sure we are painting a positive picture about how we do this in a way that is job-enhancing and economy-enhancing, and allows us to compete internationally given how trade-exposed we are.”

In its Living On Borrowed Time report on Australia’s economic future, the BCA says 47 per cent of Australia’s exports rely on fossil fuels and one in four jobs are in carbon-intensive industries.

It concedes that regional Australia will be particularly exposed by a move to a net-zero future, but that early planning will “create new jobs and new and innovative export industries”.

“Climate change can be an enormous opportunity for Australia, allowing us to reposition ourselves as a world-leading superpower in clean energy exports such as hydrogen,” the report says. “We can once again have the cheapest energy in the world, making Australia an attractive place to base energy-­intensive industries. To do this, we must make the investments now that will both leverage existing technologies to rapidly decarbonise and lead to new technological breakthroughs.”

The BCA warned that unchecked climate change would shrink the Australian economy by 6 per cent over the next 50 years – representing a $3.4 trillion loss and cost more than 880,000 jobs.

Failure to be in step with other countries on emissions would also penalise Australian producers, it said. “The European Union’s proposed Carbon Equalisation System would seek to impose additional costs on countries like Australia that don’t apply emission-reduction strategies at the same speed,” the BCA report says. It also says climate change action and a net-zero economy would grow Australia’s economy by 2.6 per cent and ­create 250,000 jobs.

Ms Westacott defended the government on its climate goals.

“We have done really well. We are on track to meet the 2030 target. We’ve done relatively well in terms of our competitor countries,” she said.

She also said it could not “just be a debate about net zero”.

“It’s one important thing. We would obviously say that it’s going to be incredible to attract investment. But to be honest, companies are getting on with it. The government has sent some very important signals. It’s really a matter for government to sort out how and when it wants to do more with those statements,” she said.