Australia's climate politics will reshape its entire economy
Long accused of being a laggard on climate action, Australia in September?passed?its first binding emissions reductions target, enshrining into law a 43% cut from 2005 levels by 2030?and net zero by 2050. But the bill has already been?criticized?for its lack of teeth, and how effective it will be at moving the country — one of the world’s largest exporters of coal — away from fossil fuels.
“It's historic in Australia, just to actually legislate the target,” says David Pocock, a first-time senator elected on a climate mandate, on the latest episode of Bloomberg Green’s?Zero?podcast. “But this is nothing to sit around patting ourselves on the back about, and even the business community here in Australia has been pushing” for higher ambition on climate.
The legislation was passed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Labor government, which rose to power in federal elections — dubbed the “climate elections” — held in May. The incumbent Liberal government saw its support crumble as an electorate battered by fires, droughts and floods shifted toward parties that pledged climate action. The Australian Greens and a group of independent candidates like Pocock, known as the teals, saw gains alongside the Labor party.
“The science says that, for Australia to do its fair share to limit global warming to 1.5C, it would have to be cutting pollution by 74% by 2030,” says Adam Bandt, leader of the Australia Greens, on this week’s episode of?Zero.
For Australia to meet its current target, and more ambitious targets in the future, it must now begin to transform its entire economy, says Pocock: “You know, that's the challenge — this has never been done before. But that's the opportunity.”
Senator David Pocock. Photographer: Martin Ollman/Getty Images
David Pocock and Adam Bandt joined Akshat Rathi on?Zero?to discuss why Australia’s electorate voted for climate candidates, how the country can wean itself off coal, and what their red lines are when working with the new Labor government.
This is an edited and condensed version of?Zero’s interview with Bandt and Pocock. You can listen to the full conversation below, and read a full transcript?here.
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Akshat Rathi:?Australia now has what some are calling the climate supermajority, with Greens getting their biggest haul. What's changed in the Australian political discourse that means these candidates succeeded?
Adam Bandt:?There's always been an appetite in Australia to take action on climate change because people see its impacts playing out. We've just come off the back of three years of drought and bushfires that gained international attention. We were also seeing international movement even from conservative governments like in the UK, as well as the US which was starting to act. There was a real sense that enough was enough and it was time for Australia to act on climate.
Akshat Rathi:?What do you see as the priority legislation to pass to ensure Australia meets its emissions reductions target??
David Pocock:?We have to ensure that 43% reduction in emissions by 2030 is just a starting point. It's largely symbolic. And now we've got to get on with the business of transforming our entire economy. Working with households to ensure that they reap the significant benefits of electrifying their households. I'd like to see the target ramp up over time, but then to focus on the integrity of it: the offsets that we're allowing companies to use; the communities that for generations have had jobs in fossil fuels, ensuring that they have secure, well-paid jobs into the future.
Akshat Rathi:?Do you support the calls to end all fossil fuel projects? And do you believe there's any chance that the Labor government will agree to such a proposal?
David Pocock:?If you're going to listen to scientists, we can't have any new coal and gas projects. That's clear. The challenge for Australia is to be building these industries for the future at the same time as we're phasing out fossil fuels. Politically, to be blunt: No, I can't see the government going for it in the current political climate. But attitudes towards the social license that fossil fuel companies have is changing so fast, that hopefully it will be possible very soon.
Akshat Rathi:?The Liberal party lost some of its safest seats to climate candidates. Is being anti-climate action now a dead position in Australia?
Adam Bandt:?If it's not dead, it's on life support. And I think people shouldn't underestimate the significance of this. You get rewarded politically in Australia now for having a better policy on climate. And I don't think the penny has quite dropped with the new government yet. There is now space for them to go further and faster.
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2 年Key insight from the interview with Adam Brandt "It is not a good idea to be reliant on fossil fuel imports from another country, that is the object lesson that comes out of the Russian invasion of Ukraine" I completely agree but that's easier said than done.