The Business Council says the Government's 2035 emissions reduction target range announced today is ambitious and will require significant investment and major reform.
BCA Chief Executive Bran Black said Australia must decarbonise and have a plan to transition to net zero by 2050, with around 90 per cent of the country's trade occurring with net zero committed countries.
"The target range that's been set is ambitious and our analysis shows there is a pathway to achieving it that will require significant capital investment, major reform and exceptional collaboration between the public and private sectors", Mr Black said.
"Even the lower end of the range will be challenging, requiring significant capital investment over the next decade and EPBC approvals processes to be comprehensively and quickly addressed.
"We strongly support net zero by 2050, and getting this right is about balancing the needs of future generations while ensuring Australian industry can continue to compete in the global market today."
Importantly, the six sector plans and Net Zero Plan have also been released today, which the BCA will work through closely with members and Government.
"The BCA has long called for a clear plan, along with ambitious but achievable targets that give business investment certainty and enable the continued delivery of affordable and reliable energy, as we move towards net zero," Mr Black said.
"The announcements today, including $5 billion in financing for industrial decarbonisation, and $2 billion for the CEFC, are welcome steps towards closing funding gaps and increasing the investment needed to meet 2035 targets and set our economy up."
The BCA's recent report, Australia 2035 - Maximising Our Potential, mapped the investment, enabling reforms and policy interventions required across a range of emissions reduction scenarios - from around a 50 per cent cut to around a 70+ per cent cut by 2035.
This report shows significant investment, and the right enabling reforms will be required to achieve 62 per cent by 2035, while also noting an even greater and substantial uplift in investment, and very significant policy changes will be required if 70 per cent is to be met by 2035.
This includes at least $400 billion in capital investment and 59,000 skilled workers in electrical trades and engineering alone for a 2035 target of around 60 per cent.
The following core policy levers are critical to delivery:
- Permitting and social licence: streamlining regulatory approvals, including the EPBC, and securing community support, so major energy and infrastructure projects are not held back by long lead times.
- Closing the funding gap: unlocking the flow of private capital by providing durable and credible policy settings.
- Scaling a skilled workforce: rapidly expanding the trained workforce needed to build and maintain the infrastructure of the transition.
- Securing the supply of technology: accessing the latest emissions reduction technology.
- Coordination and collaboration: stabilising policy settings and improving coordination and transparency across value chains.
- Improving capital excellence: lifting productivity in the delivery of projects.
