Today the Liberal party has walked away from their previous commitment to achieve net zero by 2050, following their coalition partner, the National party, who had previously abandoned support for Australia’s net zero commitment.
The Carbon Market Institute’s CEO Dr Sasha Courville said: “I’m disappointed by the decision to send this signal to Australians and the international community that Australia’s support for net zero is no longer bipartisan.”
“Attending COP30 in Brazil where governments are reaffirming their commitments to achieve climate targets and NDCs, it is a message to the world that Australia is not united to do their part to combat climate change, and that a future coalition government is going to walk away from its previous commitments.”
The Brazilian Presidency has framed COP30 as the “Implementation COP”, calling for a global mutirão to translate Global Stocktake (GST) outcomes into concrete climate action.
Australia is a relatively wealthy country and is bidding to co- host COP31 next year, a Team Australia approach across political and ideological faultlines would demonstrate international and regional leadership in volatile geopolitical times.
It was a coalition government under then Prime Minister Morrison who signed Australia up to the Paris Agreement and there has been bipartisan agreement to fulfill its international obligations.
Australian voters want businesses to take strong climate action, with a recent poll finding that 77% of Australians expect businesses to take responsibility for all their emissions now or become carbon negative (CMI, Essential Research, 2024).
“If we are serious about the risks and opportunities that climate change presents to the Australian economy and our legal obligations to act, walking away is not an option. Our businesses and communities have come to expect bipartisan commitment and courage across political lines to act on net zero. Our nation’s future prosperity and resilience demands it,” said Courville.
“Australia’s business community are making long-term decisions now about decarbonisation and participation in carbon markets. What is needed most and what business leaders have been repeatedly called for is policy certainty to scale investment and support long-term economic resilience,” concluded Courville.
The CMI has repeatedly highlighted the benefits of a strengthened national climate ambition—reinforced by sectoral budgets and complementary targets for emissions reduction, land-based removals and engineered removals—in providing a long-term investment signal for the transition of Australia’s economy.
A delayed transition and target for net zero would not only have serious consequences in combatting climate change but also increase the costs for Australian taxpayers. It would slow investment into regions, energy markets and destroy investor confidence. Australian businesses and communities will bear the brunt of any delay with increasing economic losses and disruption caused by changing landscapes, more frequent hostile weather events and a stalling economy that is not adapted to the changing demands of the global net zero economy.
Leveraging proven technologies and market mechanisms today will be more far more efficient and effective in mitigating the impacts of climate change than waiting for future technology breakthroughs.
Recent research by CMI has pointed out that with the right policy levers in place to broaden and deepen the scheme, the Safeguard Mechanism is well placed to drive emissions reductions across heavy emitting industries.
As an independent and non-partisan member-based institute, CMI looks forward to engaging further with the Coalition to support the development of robust climate policies.
