Australia’s opposition ditches commitment to net zero emissions

Australia’s conservative opposition said on Thursday it will drop its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 if it wins power and leads a country dependent on fossil fuels but highly vulnerable to climate change.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left government has poured billions into solar power, wind turbines and green manufacturing and pledged to make Australia a renewable energy superpower.

It has also pledged to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70 percent from 2005 levels over the next decade and is campaigning to co-host next year’s UN climate summit alongside Pacific Island neighbours — some of the most climate-threatened nations in the world.

The opposition centre-right Liberal Party has agonised in recent weeks over whether to drop the net zero emissions pledge, introduced in 2021 by former leader Scott Morrison when he was prime minister.

Leader Sussan Ley said on Thursday that her party would drop the goal if it returned to office, capping weeks of internal debate.

She said it remained committed to “responding to climate change in a way that is affordable, responsible and achievable”.

“Net zero would be welcome” but the target would have to be achieved without government intervention, Ley said.

“Energy affordability” would instead take precedence over government action to stop climate change, she said.

The conservative opposition in Australia announced on Thursday that, should it win power and govern a nation heavily reliant on fossil fuels yet extremely susceptible to climate change, it will abandon its pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The center-left administration of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to making Australia a renewable energy superpower by investing billions in wind turbines, solar power, and green manufacturing.

Additionally, it is lobbying to co-host next year’s UN climate summit with its Pacific Island neighbors, some of the world’s most climate-threatened countries, and has promised to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70% from 2005 levels over the next ten years.