Climate change minister Chris Bowen says he’s still weighing up legislating emissions target

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The federal government will soon announce Australia’s 2035 emissions target. But unlike its 2030 target, it may not be written into law. The Minister for Climate Change Chris Bowen says he's still weighing up whether to legislate the target.

Transcript

00:00Minister, a busy month ahead for you, obviously a lot of the focus is on that net zero by

00:092050 goal, but 2035 target, what kind of a milestone will this be for Australia?

00:15Well it will be a significant one because it's our second ever NDC, we're on the second

00:21round of NDC's nationally determined contributions around the world.

00:25It's a very important waypoint between now and 2050.

00:29Now as I've said many times, Australia's target will be two things, ambitious and

00:34achievable.

00:35Easy to be one or the other.

00:36We could have a very high target, which I could not explain to the Australian people how we

00:40would achieve.

00:41We could have a very low target, which would just be business as usual, doesn't really

00:45drive further innovation, further investment, further policies.

00:49So it should be both ambitious and achievable and it will be.

00:53And look alongside that target or around that target, you're also releasing the government's

00:58net zero plan.

00:59It's been I think more than two years of consulting work that's gone into this.

01:04What is this plan?

01:05What will it mean for the public and for business to have a pathway to net zero?

01:11So it's an updating on the Morrison government's plan, which was a bit of a joke.

01:14Unfortunately, it basically was a bit of a string and band-aids type operation.

01:19Now, of course, a net zero plan is not every single detail about every measure or every

01:25inch to 2050 because it wouldn't be a realistic document because we can't all predict every

01:30movement between now and 2050.

01:32But we can give a very honest assessment of what we see is the most likely pathway to net

01:38zero by 2050.

01:40What we see is the key developments to get there.

01:42Of course, there'll be technological improvements, some of which we can predict, some of which will

01:46take us by surprise.

01:47Are you intending to legislate 2035 to give some certainty to business?

01:52Well, we don't need to under the Paris rules, of course.

01:54We did last time for that very reason.

01:56That is something I would discuss with parliamentary colleagues about whether legislating a 2035

02:03target is a feasible thing to do or not.

02:08You know, it would be, we said, we made the point last time that it does provide greater

02:13certainty.

02:14But in that context, let the world know that the government had changed, but the parliament

02:19had also changed.

02:20And that was very important in that context of coming in so soon after that decade of denial

02:25and delay.

02:26I think that's much better understood around the world at the moment.

02:29So we'll, once we've done the 2035 target, I'll assess the situation about whether there's

02:35a pathway for legislation.

02:36So it's really about whether it's politically necessary or practical?

02:39Well, that's right.

02:41And look, it's not technically necessary.

02:43We will notify the UNFCCC of our 2035 target immediately on announcing it.

02:48Before 2035 target gets announced, you're of course planning to release the climate risk

02:53assessment and the adaptation plan that comes alongside it.

02:58It sounds like it's going to be a bit of a scary document or a confronting document

03:02for people to see.

03:03But what's your vision for it?

03:07What is the purpose of putting this kind of a plan out?

03:09What is the picture you think it will give people?

03:11It's a compelling document and an honest document.

03:14I don't think anybody who reads it will think we've gilded the lily here.

03:18But it's a factual document.

03:21The best scientific analysis available to the government of Australia will be there for

03:25people to see.

03:26Obviously, I'm not going to go through it now, but it will show our country has a lot

03:30at stake.

03:31A lot at stake.

03:31I wouldn't necessarily call it a scary document, but it's a serious document which will show

03:36that we have a lot at stake in getting this right.

03:38The path to net zero, if we don't take it, there's a significant price for our country.

03:42It's been about three months now since the cheaper home battery scheme began.

03:49Two months, actually.

03:49Only two months.

03:50One July to one September.

03:52Two months.

03:52My counting is that.

03:53Well, what's the picture that we've seen in that two months?

03:57What's the response been from people?

03:59Extraordinary response in those two months.

04:0146,000 home batteries installed around Australia, which is very much at the upper end.

04:08of our hopes as to how we thought Australians might take it up.

04:11I think that just shows Australians are getting on with it.

04:14You know, they're not distracted by this debate in this building about net zero.

04:18In great numbers, Australians are getting on with their decarbonisation journey, which

04:22is so important to the country.

04:24Interestingly, the biggest take-up is in outer suburbs and regions, rural Australia.

04:31You know, when I did it, when we announced it, a lot of people said, oh, this is just for

04:35inner city, you know, lefties, rich lefties in the inner cities.

04:40The opposite is the case.

04:42Some of those electorates have the lowest take-up.

04:45The highest take-up is in regional Australia.

04:49Seats like Mayo in South Australia, right in Queensland, outer suburbs, Gilmore in New South

04:54Wales, and western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, for example.

05:01And that, I think, just is a, again, a reminder that this false argument that somehow people

05:07in the cities want action on climate change and people in the rural areas are against it,

05:10it's just always been a lie and it's still a lie today.

05:13And that, I think, just a lie and it's still a lie and it's still a lie and it's still a lie.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended