US-China deal a win, ‘now let’s see action’

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has endorsed an agreement from China and the US to accelerate climate change action in the 2020s.

Angus Taylor says ‘we welcome the world’s two biggest emitters working together to reduce emissions in the short-term’. Picture: Martin Ollman

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has endorsed an agreement from China and the US to accelerate climate change action in the 2020s, as the government resists international pressure to raise Australia’s 2030 emissions-reduction target.

Mr Taylor urged the US and China to translate their pledge into actions, as experts warned Australia’s coal industry could be hit by Beijing’s vow to “make best efforts” to accelerate plans to phase down consumption of the fossil fuel.

“We welcome the world’s two biggest emitters working together to reduce emissions in the short-term,” Mr Taylor said on Thursday.

“It is important that these words translate into action. This is a global challenge and all countries have a role to play.”

The surprise joint declaration released by China and the US at the COP26 conference in Glasgow committed the world’s two largest emitters to “taking ¬enhanced climate actions that raise ambition in the 2020s”.

The two nations agreed to establish a Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s, which would hold regular meetings to “address the climate crisis and advance the multilateral process, focusing on enhancing concrete actions in this decade”.

China and the US recognised there was a significant gap between global climate policies and what was needed to keep temperature increases below 2C and as close as possible to 1.5C.

“The two sides stress the vital importance of closing that gap as soon as possible, particularly through stepped-up efforts,” the agreement said. “They declare their intention to work individually, jointly and with other countries during this decisive decade, in accordance with different national circumstances, to strengthen and accelerate climate action and co-operation aimed at closing the gap, including accelerating the green and low-carbon transition and climate technology innovation.”

The US and China considered work to slash emissions of methane this decade “a necessity”.

The US agreed to make its electricity sector carbon-neutral by 2035, while China flagged plans to accelerate its phase-out of coal production.

Grattan Institute director Tony Wood said the US-China deal gave credibility to the Glasgow conference.

“If you have got the two largest emitters agreeing on some substantial stuff, it is extraordinarily valuable because it was that which set up momentum for the Paris Agreement in the first place,” Mr Wood said.

“They have also gone beyond vague promises to committing to policies and targets to get there. The next step will be to see what flesh they put on the bones.”

Mr Wood said the “interesting” part of the agreement was the push to take further action this decade, which was at odds with Australia’s plan to “kick the can down the road”.

“They were never going to be able to agree on common policies because of the different political and structural issues,” he said.

The declaration was released after the first draft of the COP26 agreement urged nations to -increase their 2030 targets by the end of next year.

Mr Morrison has ruled out taking a new 2030 target to the next election, but moderate Liberal MPs Trent Zimmerman and Jason Falinski on Thursday urged the government to adopt a target of more than 35 per cent.

Josh Frydenberg would not say whether Australia would attempt to water down the COP26 draft. “We went to COP26 with a target to reduce our emissions down to net zero by 2050,” the Treasurer said. “That was a substantial commitment that we have made and it was one that we had a plan to meet. Unlike other countries, we have put out details about our plan to reduce emissions, including substantial investments in a whole range of new technologies.”

When asked about the impact on the coal industry from the China-US agreement, Mr Frydenberg said many of Australia’s international customers were committed to net-zero emissions by 2050.

“Australia will continue to ensure that we have strong export markets for our commodities. And we’ve seen a strong demand for those commodities,” he said. “But we’re also investing in new technologies like hydrogen, looking at low-emission production processes for steel, for aluminium, recognising that will be not only in the interests of the environment but also in Australia’s economic interests longer term.”

Labor climate change spokesman Chris Bowen said Scott Morrison was “incapable of preparing the Australian economy for the biggest economic change since the industrial revolution”.

“The global markets that Australia exports to are changing,” Mr Bowen said.

“The increased co-operation of China and the US makes this even more apparent. Scott Morrison’s dishonest continuation of scare campaigns on climate show his true colours — deny anything is happening, shirk responsibility, blame someone else.”

Investor Group on Climate Change director Erwin Jackson said the deal would make a “huge difference to Australia because China is one of our biggest export markets”. “The decarbonisation across the economy is now inevitable and Australia needs to be on that train or suffer the economic consequences,” Mr Jackson said.