A rooftop solar system in Sydney, Australia. Image: Photon Energy.
Australia’s Clean Energy Council has slammed the Australian government’s latest federal budget as “disappointing” for not placing more onus on expanding the country’s renewable energy capacity.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg placed big spending commitments on social policies such as driving down unemployment, aged care, childcare, supporting mental health and disability services, women’s economic security and domestic violence support on Tuesday night (11 May).
While more than UA$10 billion is to be spent on major infrastructure projects focusing on road, rail and freight upgrades, the government has been criticised for not doing more to stimulate renewables investment.
Colin PackhamSonali Paul
4 minute read
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stopped short of endorsing a 2050 target for net zero greenhouse gas emissions ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden s climate summit this week.
In a speech on Monday, he said only that Australia, the highest per capita carbon emitter among the world s richest nations, will achieve net zero as quickly as possible and preferably by 2050 . We don t make commitments lightly in this country. We prepare our plan to achieve them and then we follow through, Morrison said at a major business event in Sydney.
Analysts took those comments as a sign Australia would not commit to ambitious carbon emissions reduction targets at the virtual summit on April 22-23, defying pressure from the United States.
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21 April 2021
Australia’s Clean Energy Council has called on the Morrison government to take the lead on a managed phase-out of the nation’s remaining coal-fired power plants, to avoid a disorderly transition to renewable energy and to repair Australia’s reputation as a climate laggard.
In a statement on Wednesday, the CEC called on the federal Coalition to establish a task force with a mix of relevant stakeholders to consult on a timeline for the closure of Australia’s coal generation industry and the measures required to support it.
And CEC said the federal government should ideally have such a coal exit plan – alongside a net zero emissions commitment – ready to present to the virtual climate summit being hosted later this week by US president Joe Biden, to prove Australia was taking meaningful action on climate change.