Scott Morrison getting warmer on net-zero target with new climate tsar James Larsen

Scott Morrison’s department has created a position to co-ordinate climate strategy, raising expectations the PM will endorse a net-zero target by 2050 in months.

New deputy secretary and climate co-ordinator James Larsen.

Scott Morrison’s department has created a senior position to co-­ordinate the government’s climate strategy and provide advice about emissions reductions, raising expectations within Coalition ranks that the Prime Minister will endorse a target of net-zero by 2050 within months.

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Philip Gaetjens last month quietly appointed James Larsen, a long-time bureaucrat, to the position of deputy secretary and climate co-ordinator, elevating the issue. He will co-ordinate the work being done on the issue by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

Mr Larsen, a former ambassador to Turkey and Israel and key adviser to former foreign minister Bob Carr, is expected to use his connections to try to alter inter­national perceptions that Australia is a laggard on climate action.

Government sources said no decision had been made on whether Australia would adopt a target of net-zero emissions by 2050. But there is a growing expectation among Liberal MPs that Mr Morrison will commit to the target ­before the November UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

The government will also be under pressure to outline new ­climate initiatives at US President Joe Biden’s climate summit on April 22, or ahead of the G7 and G20 summits in June and October respectively.

Mr Larsen, who has been allocated three staff, has been chosen to bring a strategic approach to the government’s climate agenda and to push for more initiatives across government departments, alongside creating a strategy around net-zero emissions, sources close to discussions told The Australian.

A spokesman for Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the government’s emission reduction strategy would be released ahead of the COP26 meeting.

“Minister Taylor has been tasked with delivering on our long-term emissions reduction strategy, which we’ve been transparent on and will release in the lead-up to COP26,” he said.

Some Liberal MPs say it is politically important the government looks as though it is taking climate change seriously, privately arguing the National Party’s pro-coal advocacy lost more seats than it won at the last election.

The Liberal MPs say the rhetoric of the Nationals ahead of the last election forced the party to spend “millions” holding previously safe seats in Sydney and Melbourne, limiting its campaign spend in marginal electorates.

Mr Larsen began his public service career at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade nearly three decades ago. In 2006, he began a three-year stint as ambassador to Israel, and from 2014 to 2017 he served as ambassador to Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Under the Gillard government, he was Australia’s key international negotiator for tackling people-smuggling syndicates, before becoming Mr Carr’s chief-of-staff when he was foreign minister.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with Angus Taylor during Question Time in the House of Representatives in Parliament House Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Last year, Mr Larsen was appointed deputy secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. He was also a member of the National COVID Co-ordination Commission, responsible for the industrial relations working group.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma, also a former DFAT bureaucrat and ambassador to Israel, said Mr Larsen’s appointment shows the government is “going to step up our international advocacy efforts on climate change”.

“Part of the role will be helping the world understand just how much Australia has achieved on this front and how much we are committed to achieving,” Mr Sharma said.

“There is a misperception in the world that Australia is still in the climate wars. International perceptions of countries are often several years out of date.

“Having a diplomat in charge of our climate change advocacy will just address some of that.”

Patrick Suckling, Australia’s Ambassador for the Environment until 2019, said he “wouldn’t be surprised if the government signed up to net-zero by 2050 at some stage this year”.

“The whole world — both governments, the corporate sector and communities — are heading in that direction,” Mr Suckling, a consultant at Pollination and an adviser to the NSW government’s net-zero strategy. “The Biden administration will only add more momentum to that push.”

Liberal MP Jason Falinski said the creation of the climate change co-ordinator “continues our journey towards net-zero by 2050”, adding: “It is a positive sign and shows we are committed to taking action.”

Mr Morrison’s language on climate change has changed markedly since Mr Biden was elected president with a pledge to lead a global push for greater action on climate change.

In February, Mr Morrison for the first time said the government’s goal was to reach net-zero emissions “as soon as possible and preferably by 2050”.

But he also argued the climate debate must focus on achievements “not just future ambition”.