We’re not all the way with USA on climate: energy Minister Angus Taylor

A 2050 net-zero emissions commitment will require an ‘aggressive’ short-term target and the Morrison government will not necessarily follow the US on climate policies, Angus Taylor says.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor in his office at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Sean Davey.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor says an Australian 2050 net-zero emissions commitment would ­require an “aggressive” short-term target and the Morrison government will not necessarily follow the US into adopting ­climate policies that harm carbon-intensive export industries.

In his first interview since the US election, Mr Taylor said he ­expected the incoming Democratic administration of Joe Biden to promote new technologies as a key means of reducing emissions, arguing this was “exactly the approach we (Australia) are taking”.

“We welcome the US to the Paris Agreement, which we can reasonably expect they will sign now. And that is good news,” Mr Taylor said.

“The one thing we know about the US is that they have always been very focused on technology.

“They have always seen technology as central to solutions to many problems, economic problems as well as environmental problems. And I am very confident they will have a very strong focus on technology. It is that leadership and that approach, that American focus on technology and enterprising businesses and individuals getting on with the job, that I think has always been good for the world.”

Mr Biden went to the election promising to rejoin the Paris Agreement, hit net-zero emissions “no later than 2050” and achieve an emissions-neutral electricity sector by 2035, with Labor using the Democratic victory to accuse the Coalition of being internationally isolated on climate change.

Scott Morrison told question time on Monday that the government would like to meet net-zero emissions “as quickly as possible” but argued the public needed to be informed of the costs involved.

“Until such time as we can be very clear with the Australian people about what the cost of that is and how that plan can deliver on that commitment, it would be very deceptive on the Australian people,” the Prime Minister said.

“Australia’s policies will be set in Australia and nowhere else for Australia’s purposes and consistent with our national interest.”

The government has resisted committing to a 2050 net-zero emissions target, despite it being backed by more than 70 countries, every state and territory and key business groups.

But Mr Taylor said Australia had an economy with a “different structure from the US”.

“We have a very strong focus on resources exports, agricultural exports, and we will always reflect that in our targets and our plans,” he said. “That is how the Paris Agreement is structured.

“We are not going to slash our economy. We are not going to slash key sectors. We are going to continue to support agriculture, resources, mining and manufacturing. These are important sectors to the Australian economy and will continue to be.”

Mr Taylor said the only developed countries with similar ­export-reliant economies to were Canada and New Zealand.

“New Zealand has barely ­reduced its emissions at all since 2005, the Paris baseline year,” Mr Taylor said. “Canada hasn’t ­reduced its emissions since the baseline year. We have reduced them by 14 per cent.”

The government’s target is to lower emissions by 26-28 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030.

Mr Taylor said Australia did not need to unveil a 2035 target for another five years and would not commit to outlining an updated target before the next election or next year’s UN climate conference in Glasgow.

Labor climate change spokesman Mark Butler accused Mr Taylor on Monday of “running another tired old scare campaign against climate action” after claiming the opposition’s effective 2030 target was 43 per cent.

Labor is in a heated internal debate over climate change, with resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon pushing for the party to go to the election without specific targets for 2030 or 2035.

Mr Butler said Labor’s ­medium-term target would “be a position consistent with net-zero emissions by 2050 and informed by the best available scientific and economic advice … Scott Morrison is completely isolated at home and abroad in not backing net-zero emissions by 2050 and Australians will be left paying the price.

“The EU and the US president-elect have made it clear they will impose costs on countries that drag their feet on net zero by 2050, while Australian business leaders, unions and all state governments have already signed up to net zero by 2050,” he said.

“Adopting net zero by 2050 is clearly in Australia’s interest, and the election of president-elect Biden only makes it more so.”

Cathy Foley, Australia’s incoming chief scientist, said gas and coal carbon capture would play a significant role in the ­energy mix for some years, and people had to be “realistic” about the pace of the transition to ­renewable energy. “Changing ­energy technology involves decadal plans,” she said.

“As (current Chief Scientist Alan) Finkel has said, the role of gas is to aid the transition and give room to bringing more renewable technologies on. You are going to find coal will have a role to play for some time as it takes a long time to switch. Carbon capture is a part of the technological ­advance, though it is not as pure.

“But something that is often missed is that there is not going to be a single solution.”

Dr Foley, who replaces Dr Finkel next month, said it was important that renewable technologies could pay their own way and show how they would benefit people’s bottom lines.

Mr Taylor said he expected the gas sector to expand and that the government was willing to underwrite infrastructure.