Scott Morrison slaps down British PM Boris Johnson’s claims COP26 was the ‘death-knell’ for coal

Scott Morrison slaps down Boris Johnson’s claim the COP26 pact sounded a ‘death knell’ for coal.

Boris Johnson, left and Scott Morrison in Rome on October 30. Picture: Adam Taylor

Scott Morrison says Australia’s coal industry will remain strong for decades under climate policies that protect the nation’s economic interests, slapping down Boris Johnson’s claim that the COP26 pact sounded a “death knell” for coal power.

Facing pressure from Nationals MPs to protect coal exports and moderate Liberal MPs who want a 2035 emissions-reduction target, Mr Morrison said he would not “make rural and regional Australians pay” for the country’s net- zero emissions by 2050 target.

The Prime Minister also refused to commit to a new 2030 emissions-reduction target, despite the Glasgow climate pact urging countries to outline greater ambition before the COP27 summit in Egypt next year.

Speaking in the marginal western Sydney seat of Lindsay on Monday, Mr Morrison said Australians employed by the coal sector would “continue to be working in that industry for ¬decades to come” because the transition to new low-emissions technologies would happen over a long time.

After India and China changed the final COP26 text from “phase out” to “phase down” coal, Mr Morrison said he would not apologise for “Australia standing up for our national interests”.

“Whether they be our security interests or our economic interests, we’re going to do this in a balanced way focusing on the technological advances that we know will actually see us solve this problem,” he said. “We’re not going to tax Australians to do that. We’re not going to legislate them, and regulate them and force them to do things.”

Mr Johnson, a close ally of Mr Morrison, on Monday said the COP26 climate pact was a “game-changing agreement” that sounded the “death knell for coal power”.

Adani Australia chief executive Lucas Dow said “coal cannot simply be wished out of the ¬energy mix”.

“Developing nations in our region will require a mix of energy sources and technologies, including coal generation, to meet their economic and social aspirations and challenges,” he said.

The Adani coalmine was a key issue at the 2019 election, with the Coalition’s support for the project credited with holding seats in central Queensland.

Mr Dow said removing Australian coal from the global seaborne market would lead to other jurisdictions with inferior-quality coals, and less stringent environmental regulations to fill the gap.

OECD secretary-general Mathias Cormann said Australia must deliver a “steeper” cut in emissions across the economy to ensure it meets its net-zero goals.

The nation’s longest-serving finance minister, said it was integral for Australia’s economy to emerge from the pandemic with a strong focus on net-zero alignment. “Ensuring the economic recovery is consistent with a path to net-zero emissions by 2050, emissions will need to continue to decline on a steeper trajectory right across the economy,” Mr Cormann told the UBS Australasia conference on Monday.

He said greater international co-ordination was needed to ensure action on climate change was pursued “in a way that is both effective and fair”.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane, the nation’s longest-serving resources minister, said: “Queensland coalmines should be the last coalmines closed in the world because it’s the best quality coal there is. The world needs Queensland coal more than ever to support the transition to a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future.”

He said the industry would evolve “but the road to a lower emissions future is a long one that needs to be managed in an orderly and logical way”.

With Mr Morrison refusing to budge on Australia’s 2030 pledge to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent under 2005 levels, moderate Liberal MPs led by Dave Sharma and Jason Falinski called for a 2035 target.

Mr Sharma said a 2035 emissions reduction target of between 40-45 per cent was achievable, given Australia’s performance to date and the uptake of low-emissions technologies. “It’s a modest stretch but it’s not a big stretch. If we’re serious about reducing our emissions, we need to lessen our reliance on fossil fuels,” he said.

Mr Morrison, who has not ruled out a more ambitious target after next year’s election, said while the government was “happy to see emissions reduce”, he would not “tell Australians what to do through climate policy”.

“All that happened at COP26 was all countries noted a request to revisit these things. But I’ve been very clear about what our target is and that we will meet and beat it. We are going to achieve a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. That’s what we’re going to achieve and that’s what actually matters,” he said.

Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who led the Coalition’s pro-Adani campaign, said he opposed changes to existing medium-term targets.

“I hope we don’t reduce our emissions by more than 26 per cent because I think we should focus on bringing manufacturing jobs back to Australia first. All the evidence shows that the lower our carbon emissions go, the more manufacturing jobs we lose,” Senator Canavan said.

Former Dow Chemicals chief executive Andrew Liveris, who promoted the government’s “gas-led recovery” as Covid-19 Commission special adviser, said Australia should set a carbon price of -between $US40 to $US80 a tonne.

He said a carbon price system should not drive up prices for customers and be paid by companies into a fund supporting low-emissions technologies.

Vicki Treadell, the British high commissioner to Australia, said COP26 locked in “the trajectory for unabated coal power” and every nation must make a judgment on balancing economic interests with the “wellbeing of the planet”.

“All the countries who have committed to net zero by 2050 to switching over the next 20 to 30 years to renewable energy and phasing down, if you prefer that language, coal,” Ms Treadell said.

“That’s the reality of the next 30 to 40 years that we’re facing and in that time it is about the investment in the new technology and the new industries and the huge opportunity for Australia as a net exporter of renewable energy and the materials we will need.”

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce distanced the Nationals from the climate pact on Monday, saying the party did not sign up to the COP26 agreement.