"Hitting Australia's challenging new emissions targets will take a big effort across our economy, a clear focus on competitiveness and – at the high end – a fair bit of luck," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of national employer association Australian Industry Group, said today.
"Setting an emissions target is a balancing act. It has to be ambitious enough to motivate us to achieve what we otherwise couldn't. But it also has to be feasible enough not to de-motivate us with its cost or sheer impossibility.
"Make no mistake, the Government's chosen target range, to cut emissions by 62-70% by 2035, is a big lift. While it is not straightforward to achieve, it is also in the realm of the feasible – with hard work and a tight focus on making Australia a place where it is easy to invest and to build.
"Even reaching 62% will challenge policy makers, industry and households. Delivering 70% will only be possible with favourable tailwinds from technology, global markets and the right policy settings, especially to allow for the construction and delivery of significant infrastructure. Uncluttering our regulatory frameworks will be crucial.
"Australia's targets experience is mixed. Most of our past emissions targets have turned out much easier to meet than thought at the time of adoption, because learning by doing is a more powerful force than economic models usually allow for. But Australia's current 2030 target hangs in the balance, largely because getting energy infrastructure approved and built is much harder today than models assume. We need to fix these blockages as a matter of urgency.
"We should not spend the next ten years arguing about this target range. We should get on with sensible measures that make it ever more achievable. The strong recognition of the role of gas in our energy mix, along with the renewables build, reflects a practical focus on our economic competitiveness. There should always be debate about how best to achieve the target but working towards these goals in an economically sustainably way is crucial to Australia's long-term economic viability as the global economy changes shape," Mr Willox said.
Some useful steps have been announced alongside the targets, including expanding the funding available for industry decarbonisation, recapitalising the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and establishing ongoing scrutiny of efficient demand-side options for smarter energy use. But more will be needed, including:
- Bedding down the consensus from the economic roundtable to fix our environmental approvals processes and get faster results. You can't create prosperity, or a net zero economy, without building.
- Ensuring Australian industry has a level playing field on climate policy. Ensuring common signals for suppliers of different sizes, or from different jurisdictions in Australia and overseas, will build efficiency and safeguard competitiveness.
- Ensuring the states are on board with the policy approach and agree to harmonise and streamline their own approvals processes.
"Steady effort and ongoing reform will put Australia in its best possible position to deliver these emissions cuts. The task will be considerable. There will be costs. There are also costs from moving too slowly, as this week's national climate risk assessment highlights. Let's get on with the job," Mr Willox said.
