(AU NEWS.com.au) Scathing Analysis Of Australia’s Net Zero By 2050, Climate Change Targets

NEWS.com.au - Ellen Ransley

International climate change experts have published a scathing critique of Australia’s climate change response – or lack thereof.

Morrison Government receives damning assessment over climate change response

The federal government’s “unambitious” policy response to climate change has been ranked the worst in the world as Prime Minister Scott Morrison ramps up a pre-election blitz touting his national plan to meet net zero by 2050.

International climate experts say Australia has “failed to take advantage” of its potential and has not implemented any policies or plans strong enough to combat “dangerous” climate change.

World leaders are being urAged to consider implementing more drastic measures after it was revealed temperature rises will top 2.4C by 2100 if countries do not adjust their short-term goals. That would significantly exceed the 2C upper limit set in 2015 and the 1.5C limit that was the aim of recent climate talks.

On the sidelines of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, which Mr Morrison and Emissions Reductions Minister Angus Taylor briefly attended, the Climate Change Performance Index was released and Australia received scores of “very low” in three categories, and “low” in one.

Climate change activists dressed as world leaders, including Scott Morrison (third from right), during a demonstration at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. Picture: Andy Buchanan / AFP

The government’s lack of policies, weak targets, low levels of renewables, high levels of energy use and high per-capita greenhouse gas emissions resulted in Australia receiving an overall ranking of 58, four places down from last year.

Australia’s worst score was its rating on “climate policy”, coming in last at 0.00, below Algeria, which scored 1.30. Luxembourg (19.11), Denmark (17.87) and Morocco (17.23) topped the chart, but no country was ranked 1-3 because “no country is doing enough to prevent dangerous climate change”.

Australia performed slightly better in the renewable energy rating table, coming in at 52 and a rating of “low”.

The report was released just two weeks after Mr Morrison announced a national plan to drive emissions down to net zero by 2050 by exploring future technologies. This week he has begun a pre-election blitz touting a $1bn pledge to support emissions reductions start-ups and a new electric vehicle policy.

But Australia also refused to sign a pledge to cut methane emissions, has dismissed calls to phase out coal, and has not set a more ambitious 2030 target.

As a result, the report wrote that there were “no new policies and plans” to go along with the government’s announcement.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Toyota Hydrogen Centre in Altona to unveil a new $250m electric vehicle plan on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

“The CCPI national experts regard the Technology Investment Roadmap as insufficient for decarbonising the economy, reducing the use of fossil fuels, promoting renewable energy, and setting out how national greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced,” the report said.

“The government does not have any policies on phasing out coal or gas, but CCUS and hydrogen are being promoted as low emissions technology.

“Even though the renewables electricity is growing, the experts believe that Australia has failed to take advantage of its potential, and other countries have outpaced it.”

The scathing analysis stated Australia had “inadequate infrastructure investment”, and despite public support for net zero, there was no national plan for transitioning to renewable energy.

“The country's lack of domestic ambition and action has made its way to the international stage,” the report continued.

“The country’s international standing has been damaged by climate denialism, refusal to increase ambition, and refusal to recommit to international green finance mechanisms.”

Mr Morrison said on Wednesday morning he believed climate change would be solved by “can do capitalism, not don’t-do governments”.

“The world does not need to be punished for climate change, we just need to fix it,” he said.

“It will be fixed … by risk takers. That’s the Australian way.

“Like-minded Australians should be doing the same.”

Opposition climate change spokesperson Chris Bowen told ABC on Wednesday that the Morrison government’s “spin” couldn’t be trusted.

“You can’t trust this government on climate change, they don’t believe it, it’s a five minutes to midnight conversion,” he said.

“They’re prejudiced against renewable energy.”

Links

• Scott Morrison refuses to release net zero 2050 modelling amid condemnation of climate policy
• Australia's plan for net zero relies on cutting costs of some technologies while creating others
• Morrison's Glasgow trip raises troubling questions about climate change, national security and how the government should be judged
• Scott Morrison has put the war on the weekend in his rearview mirror and embraces electric vehicles
• Scott Morrison accused of failing to understand the 'urgency' of climate change 
• De-bunking Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s COP26 speech

(AU NEWS.com.au) Scott Morrison Pledges $1b Fund For Emissions Reduction Start-Ups

  NEWS.com.au - Catie McLeod

The Morrison government has promised additional funding for start-ups working on technology that can reduce emissions by 2050.

Morrison Government to create $1 billion low emissions technology fund

The Morrison government says it will move to legislate a $1 billion fund to encourage investment in Australian companies to develop new low emissions technology.

The government will provide $500 million to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, with the ‘green bank’ to raise the other half from the private sector before the new fund launches.

The fund could support technologies including carbon capture and underground storage, improved solar panels, livestock feed to reduce methane emissions and more efficient batteries.

The federal government recently committed to a net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 target and has underpinned much of its strategy on technology that hasn’t been invented yet.

The Coalition has rebuffed calls to phase out coal and declined to ramp up its 2030 targets, but it has promoted carbon capture and storage, gas and hydrogen as solutions.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison released a joint statement with Energy Minister Angus Taylor on Tuesday night, saying their government would introduce legislation in this term of parliament to establish the fund.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor were in Melbourne on Tuesday to spruik their electric vehicles policy. Picture: William West/AFP

He and Mr Taylor say they expect the fund to earn a positive return for taxpayers.

Mr Taylor said the technology fund would support fledgling Australian companies to develop their intellectual property.

He said there was a currently a gap in the Australian market, where complex, technology-focused start-ups could be considered to be “too risky” to finance.

The fund could support improved solar panels and more efficient batteries. Picture: Cameron Laird

Mr Morrison and Mr Taylor were in Melbourne earlier on Tuesday to spruik their new electric vehicles policy, with $250m to install charging stations and other infrastructure in a bid to get 1.7 million low and zero emission cars on the road by 2030.

Mr Morrison savaged Labor’s proposal back in 2019, accusing the party of trying to force Australians to give up their petrol-run cars.

He continues to refuse to release the modelling underpinning his government’s plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 despite criticism that the policies lack credibility.

On Monday, when he was asked by reporters when it would be released, Mr Morrison repeated the word “soon” but gave no indication of a time frame.

Last month, he told parliament the report would be released following his trip to Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit.

Mr Morrison returned to Australia last week.

Links

• Scott Morrison says ‘can-do capitalism’ will solve climate change
• Morrison government receives damning assessment over climate change response
• Scathing analysis of Australia’s net zero by 2050, climate change targets
• PM pledges $2 billion for Pacific countries to help fight climate change
• Net zero: Australia’s Scott Morrison and his climate change balancing act
• Prime Minister faces renewed 2030s climate target push
• Morrison's Glasgow trip raises troubling questions about climate change, national security and how the government should be judged

(SMH) ‘Existential Crisis’: United States And China Stun COP26 With Joint Climate Change Pact

Sydney Morning Herald - Nick O'Malley | Bevan Shields

Glasgow: The shock new pact between China and the United States unveiled in Glasgow has been hailed as a breakthrough as the deadline looms for the climate summit’s negotiations.

The world’s two largest emitters declared global warming an existential crisis which demands co-operation between the superpowers.

In a boost to the flagging COP26 talks and sign of a possible thawing in the fractured relationship between both countries, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his US counterpart John Kerry stunned observers by unveiling the joint declaration pledging tougher action this decade.

The agreement was negotiated in secret for months during about 30 virtual meetings and negotiation sessions in Shanghai, London and Washington before final terms were settled in Glasgow on Wednesday night local-time (Thursday AEDT)

China’s special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, speaks at the COP26 climate change conference. Credit: Getty

“Co-operation is the only choice for both China and the United States,” Xie told reporters via a translator.

“By working together, our two countries can achieve many important things that are beneficial not only to our two countries, but to the world as a whole. As two major powers in the world, China and the US shoulder special international responsibilities and obligations.

“We need to think big and feel responsible. We need to work … hard to promote world peace and development. We need to actively address climate change through cooperation, bringing benefits to both our two peoples and peoples around the world.”

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will hold a virtual summit before the end of the year. Credit: AFR

The announcement appeared to take Britain, the host of the COP26 summit, by surprise given Prime Minister Boris Johnson had only hours earlier warned momentum at the talks was slowing.

The Glasgow declaration was released just a week after US President Joe Biden attacked Chinese President Xi Jinping for not attending the summit in person, describing it as a “big mistake”.

“The rest of the world is going to look to China and say, ‘what value added are they providing?’,” Biden said last week. “They’ve lost the ability to influence the people around the world and all the people here at COP.”

Full Document

The document promises the US and China will work together on emissions reductions and an accelerated phase-out of unabated coal, however timelines were not listed.

The statement also binds China to tackle damaging methane emissions and deforestation, while both countries have agreed to share technology and expertise on clean energy, decarbonisation and electrification.

Crucially, the statement notes both countries are committed to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees and conceded there was a “gap” between current policies and meeting that core target.

Xie described climate change as an “existential crisis” and said agreement between the US and China on how to deal with global warming far outweighed their differences on the issue.

The United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of carbon dioxide, unveiled a deal to ramp up cooperation tackling climate change.

Kerry, a former US secretary of state under Barack Obama, framed the surprise agreement as much-needed momentum for the COP26 talks.

“The two largest economies in the world have agreed to work together to raise climate ambition in this decisive decade,” Kerry told reporters in Glasgow.

“Our teams have worked together for months, and we have worked in good faith. We have found common ground.”

Kerry described the joint-declaration, titled the China-US Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s, as a “road map for our present and future collaboration” on climate change.

“It declares specifically and identifies the need to accelerate the transition to a global net-zero economy,” Kerry said.

Glasgow summit

Australia among nations trying to soften COP26 declaration

“Secondly, it commits to a series of important actions, not out in the long term but now, in this decade where it’s needed.

“We could leave [Glasgow] on Friday not working together, the world wondering where the future is going. Or we can leave here with people working together in order to raise the ambition and move down a better road.

“What President Biden wanted to do, and President Xi agreed we should do, is join together to work at trying to solve this. And I am convinced that’s a better road to pursue.”

Xie and Kerry noted that the US had developed a plan to reduce methane emissions and said China would follow suit.

“Climate change is a common challenge faced by humanity. It bears on the wellbeing of future generations,” Xie said.

“Climate change is becoming increasingly urgent and severe.”

Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris Agreement and chief executive officer of the European Climate Foundation, said the joint declaration proved co-operation on climate was possible.

“The methane and forests commitments are good news, now they must co-operate on ensuring an ambitious outcome to COP26,” she said.

Climate policy

The climate clock: What’s the world’s carbon budget, and what’s Australia’s share?

“That means putting us on track to 1.5 degrees and delivering the vital support needed to those most vulnerable. The success of that cooperation will be judged on the outcome of this vital meeting.”

“Tackling the climate crisis requires international cooperation and solidarity, and this is an important step in the right direction,” UN Secretary General António Guterres tweeted shortly after the announcement.

“This is a challenge which transcends politics,” tweeted the EU’s top climate envoy, Frans Timmermans. “Bilateral cooperation between the two biggest global emitters should boost negotiations.”

Bernice Lee, the research director at the Chatham House think tank in London, also sounded a note of caution.

“It can only be good news that the US and China are working closely on climate change and slashing methane emissions,” Lee said.

“Details remain patchy but this declaration should dissolve any fears that US-China tensions will stand in the way of success at COP26. But the statement is not enough to close the deal. The real test of Washington and Beijing is how hard they push for a 1.5 degree-aligned deal here in Glasgow.”

Glasgow Climate Summit

Explore

Links

• Australia among nations trying to soften COP26 declaration
• China and US vow to tackle climate change in joint statement at COP26 Glasgow talks
• U.S. and China issue joint pledge to slow climate change
• China and US announce deal to boost cooperation on climate change
• Australia snubs pledge to cut methane emissions
• Australia could be pushed to strengthen 2030 targets under COP26 agreement
• Why money matters at the COP26 climate talks
• COP26 draft text calls for tougher emissions pledges by 2022
• Hot air: Scepticism over Indonesia’s COP26 deforestation pledges
• Climate activists decry ‘false solutions, fairy tales’ at COP26

(AU The Conversation) COP26: Why Education For Girls Is Crucial In The Fight Against Climate Change

The Conversation - Betty Barkha | Katrina Lee-Koo

Carrying water.

Authors Betty Barkha is a PhD Candidate, Monash University Katrina Lee-Koo is Associate Professor of International Relations, Monash University

The Glasgow climate change conference is in its second week, with Tuesday November 9 dedicated to recognising gender equality, and the empowerment of women and girls in climate policy and action.

Gender inequality means women and girls will experience climate change in unique and different ways. They are more likely to die in extreme weather events than men. And as climate change brings about forced migration, loss of housing and income, they are vulnerable to gender-based violence.

Tuesday 9 November marks Gender Day at #COP26!

Here's everything you need to know about the day's events celebrating gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in climate policy and action 👉 https://t.co/XCiUVm3sLm @UNFCCC pic.twitter.com/M0byUmbmq2

— UN Women (@UN_Women) November 7, 2021

Child marriage is a common coping mechanism for many families facing climate stress. For example, in 2016 a 15-year-old girl in Mozambique was married in exchange for 2,000 Mozambican Metical (approximately A$42) to forestall her family’s climate-induced poverty.

There is also strong evidence regarding the impact of climate change on girls’ education. In particular, it will exacerbate the already existing barriers girls face. These include learning disruptions due to inadequate funds for school fees, as well as food, water and menstrual hygiene products. During natural disasters girls experience an increase in care work and disruptions due to forced displacement or migration.

The Malala Fund estimates the climate events of 2021 will prevent at least 4 million girls from completing their education. Similarly, a new report from NGO Plan International shows if current trends continue, by 2025 climate change will be a contributing factor in preventing at least 12.5 million girls each year from completing their education. The report states:

Even though girls are significantly impacted by climate change, they are also powerful agents of change, capable of strengthening a country’s response to climate change.

Why education for girls is crucial

In describing the COP26 summit as “a two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah,” activist Greta Thunberg summed up the attitude of many young people protesting around the world. That is, political leaders are protecting their own interests at the expense of future generations.

The growing youth activism is acknowledgement this damaged planet is theirs to inherit and fix. Young people in our region will endure an increase in severe weather events, a rise in food insecurity, challenges to their health from poorer air quality and pollution, and the impact of species’ extinction and biodiversity change.

In the face of these challenges, education for all young people is crucial. But in particular, education, empowerment and leadership of girls and young women is the key to climate resilience.

Project Drawdown, a global research project which identifies and assesses solutions to climate change, notes that education

shores up resilience and equips girls and women to face the impacts of climate change. They can be more effective stewards of food, soil, trees, and water, even as nature’s cycles change.

Young people in our region will endure an increase in severe weather events, and girls are particularly vulnerable. (Children in a school in Papua New Guinea) Shutterstock

Education for girls can be a pathway for fighting the climate crisis in three key ways:

1. education in both the sciences and social sciences is necessary to address climate change. Girls’ participation in these fields will drive innovation in green technologies as well as a social approach to resilience built on equality
   
   
2. formal education can build on women and girls’ existing community-based knowledge regarding disaster risk reduction and help them respond to climate emergencies
   
   
3. education creates pathways to more independent decision-making for women and girls around work, family planning and community engagement. It also creates opportunities for leadership and participation in formal decision-making.

Girls and young women are already leading the way in climate responses in the region. For example, 17-year-old Anjali Sharma led a landmark class action – with seven other teenagers – in the Australian Federal Court against Australia’s environment minister Sussan Ley. The group was seeking an injunction to prevent Ley approving a coal mine expansion, arguing it would contribute to climate change which endangers their future.

The Malala Fund also iterates the importance of investing in girls’ education in the fight against climate change. It argues such investment increases social resilience and strengthens adaption and mitigation efforts.

Australia can do more

The Plan International report shows that in 2019, Australia spent A$516 million of its official development assistance on projects which targeted action against climate change.

That represents just 25% of Australia’s development assistance, putting Australia in 12th place among the OECD’s 30 development committee donors.

Plan International’s report also shows climate education is absent in Australia’s recent development policies and education strategies. For instance, Australia’s Partnerships for Recovery: Australia’s COVID-19 Development Response’ policy — launched in May 2020 — fails to mention climate change among the three pillars of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Young people are demanding change from those in power, organising in their communities to educate one another, engaging in activities to protect the environment and adapt to its changes, and demanding to be heard.

Australia must be more ambitious in ensuring youth and young women are prepared for the challenges ahead. By prioritising girls’ education in its funding and partnerships for regional development, Australia can promote gender equitable climate leadership.

Political leaders have a responsibility not only to engage and respond to young people, but also to build their capacity to face climate change, now and in the future.

Links

• COVID is forcing millions of girls out of school in South-east Asia and the Pacific
• These Aussie teens have launched a landmark climate case against the government. Win or lose, it'll make a difference
• Ever wondered what our curriculum teaches kids about climate change? The answer is 'not much'
• Gender & Women at COP 26
• Effects of climate change on girls’ rights
• This is how natural disasters impact men and women differently and why gender equality efforts must consider climate change
• Raising our voice: Funding Climate Education and Youth Leadership in SE Asia and the Pacific

(AU ABC) Australia Scores Zero On Climate Policy In Latest Climate Change Performance Index

ABC News - Michael Doyle

Despite the Prime Minister announcing a commitment to net zero by 2050, Australia's climate policy has been ranked the worst by the CCPI. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

Key Points The CCPI is released every year and ranks countries in four categories Overall, Australia was ranked as one of the worst-performing countries Australia received a rating of "very low" in all four categories, the worst ranking

Australia's latest climate policies are failing to "take advantage of its potential" and rank last among nations in the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).

The annual rankings — published by German-based advocacy group Germanwatch — rank the performance of 63 nations and the European Union on greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, energy use and climate policy.

The performance index is measured by consulting experts in each country, according to the organisation, and evaluates each country's progress working towards goals in the Paris Agreement.

Australia ranked 55th, overall, but was dead last in climate policy, the only country to receive no score in that category.

In its assessment, Australia received a "very low" rating across the board and was "trailing many developed economies".

"The government does not have any policies on phasing out coal or gas, but CCUS [carbon capture, utilisation and storage] and hydrogen are being promoted as low-emissions technologies," the report said.

"Even though the renewables electricity is growing, the experts believe that Australia has failed to take advantage of its potential, and other countries have outpaced it."

The CCPI report notes that Australia's climate policy does not phase out coal nor gas. (Reuters: Jason Lee)

Last month Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia would commit to net zero by 2050, after negotiating with the Nationals.

Mr Morrison said the federal government would invest more than $20 billion by the end of the decade developing low-emissions technologies.

The plan prioritises "clean" hydrogen, "ultra-low-cost solar", battery storage of renewable power and carbon capture and storage, however there are questions around the viability of these technologies.

Australia dropped four places in its overall ranking, compared to 2020, and was ranked as "very low" in every category in the CCPI.

The plan for net zero

The government has committed to reaching net zero by 2050, and says it is on track to beat its 2030 emissions targets. But what will it take to turn Australia green? Read more

Renewable energy was Australia's best-performing category, ranking 49th, one spot ahead of the United States, but was still failing to promote new technologies according to the report.

"The country's lack of domestic ambition and action has made its way to the international stage," the report said.

"The experts describe that the country's international standing has been damaged by climate denialism by politicians, refusal to increase ambition, and refusal to recommit to international green finance mechanisms.

"Australia has fallen behind its allies and its inaction even attracted public criticism in the run-up to COP26."

No country in the report received an overall rating of "very high", which led to the report not ranking any counties first, second or third.

Denmark received the best overall score, climbing two places from the 2020 report, and replacing Sweden in the top spot.

The Netherlands and Greece were the greatest improvers over the previous 12 months, both climbing 10 spots to be ranked 19th and 24th respectively.

Links

• What is the government's plan to reach net zero?
• The weather gets choppy with Joyce and Morrison's climate contradictions
• The details are scarce but Morrison's net zero 'plan' is a big shift from his Borat Tax days
• 'Net zero' is a political win, but it has entrenched a climate policy stalemate
• 'We are way off track': Greenhouse gas concentrations hit record high in 2020
• Why is the pressure being piled on Australia to do more on climate change?

(Al Jazeera) COP26: Obama Criticises China And Russia For ‘Lack Of Urgency’

Al Jazeera

Former US president says national plans of China and Russia on the climate crisis show a ‘dangerous lack of urgency’.

Obama also criticised members of the US Republican Party for their hostility towards climate science [Paul Ellis/AFP]

Former United States President Barack Obama has criticised Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for not joining other global leaders at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow.

“I have to confess. It was particularly discouraging to see the leaders of two of the world’s largest emitters, China and Russia, decline to even attend the proceedings, and their national plans reflect what appears to be a dangerous lack of urgency,” Obama said during an address at the summit on Monday.

He added that their plans indicated a “willingness to maintain the status quo on the part of those governments. That’s a shame.”

The Glasgow summit is Obama’s first since the 2015 Paris climate accord, when nations committed to cutting fossil fuel and agricultural emissions fast enough to keep the Earth’s warming below catastrophic levels.

🔴 Live from #COP26

Former President of the USA @BarackObama addresses delegates in Glasgow. https://t.co/80m8RQOpbl

— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) November 8, 2021

Delegates from some 200 countries are in Glasgow to come up with a deal to meet the Paris Agreement goals of limiting temperature rises to between 1.5 and two degrees Celsius (2.7F-3.6F).

Obama said while “advanced economies” like Europe and the US needed to lead on climate change, so did nations like Russia, China and India.

“We need Russia leading on this issue, just as we need Indonesia and South Africa and Brazil leading on this issue – we can’t afford to have anyone on the sidelines.”

The former US leader said that while he acknowledged international cooperation had “waned” due to several reasons including the pandemic and “nationalism”, climate change was one issue that should transcend “our day to day to politics and geopolitics”.

Obama also took a shot at members of the US Republican Party saying both he and current Democratic President Joe Biden had been “constrained in large part by the fact that one of our two major parties has decided not only to sit on the sidelines but express active hostility toward climate science and make climate change a partisan issue”.

“For those listening back home in the US, let me say this: It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat if your Florida house is flooded by rising seas, or your crops fail in the Dakotas or your California house is burning down.

“Nature, physics, science, do not care about party affiliation,” he said.

Moreover, Obama asserted that pressure from voters could help force governments to commit to more ambitious climate plans.

“The cold hard fact is we will not have more ambitious climate plans coming out of governments unless governments feel some pressure from voters,” he added.

‘Get busy’

Obama told young people “you are right to be frustrated,” but then relayed the advice his mother gave him when he was young.

“’Don’t sulk. Get busy, get to work and change what needs to be changed,’” he said. “Vote like your life depends on it – because it does.”

Meanwhile, online activist group Avaaz released a video showing Obama had made the same call for action, not words, to help poor nations as long ago as 2009, but with few results in the ensuing years.

Former US President Barack Obama, wearing a face-covering due to COVID-19, leaves after attending a meeting at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on November 8, 2021 [Paul Ellis/AFP]

At a UN climate summit 12 years ago in Copenhagen, when Obama was president, rich nations promised to hand developing countries $100bn a year by 2020 to help them adapt to climate change.

The target was missed, and at COP26 richer nations have said they will meet the goal in 2023 at the latest, with some hoping it could be delivered a year earlier.

Scientists have said the urgency of global warming is as great as the dire speeches at Glasgow have conveyed, with the planet only a few years away from the point where meeting the goals set in the Paris accord will become impossible due to mounting damage from coal, petroleum, agriculture and other pollution sources.

The last few days have seen huge demonstrations in Glasgow and around Europe, demanding faster action in fighting global warming.



Links

• Barack Obama Calls for 'Ongoing Activism' In COP26 Speech
• COP26: Obama tells young people to stay angry on climate fight
• Obama implores world leaders to ‘step up now’ to avert climate disaster
• VIDEO: Obama delivers remarks at COP26  1hr 22min
• Are COP26 climate crisis talks heading towards failure?
• COP26: Protesters worldwide demand action on climate crisis
• COP26 should listen to small states and island nations at risk
• Youth activists protest against climate inaction at COP26

(AU New Daily) Electric Car Groups Savage Coalition’s Future Fuels ‘Fizzer’

New Daily - AAP

Scott Morrison tours Toyota's hydrogen plant in Melbourne, ahead of the electric vehicle announcement. Photo: AAP

Electric vehicle groups have lashed out at the federal government’s long-awaited future fuels policy, labelling the proposal a “fizzer”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled his government’s electric vehicle strategy at the Toyota plant in Melbourne’s west on Tuesday morning.

It aims to put 1.7 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030.

“Allowing consumers to lead this process is really important,” he said.

“The customer is always right and the customer wants to buy electric vehicles at a cheaper price and get longer duration from these vehicles.”

The abrupt backflip comes after the Prime Minister derided electric vehicles in the lead-up to the last federal election as “ending the weekend”.

On Tuesday, Mr Morrison said he had opposed Labor’s electric vehicle policy because it wasn’t a good one.

“I don’t think that policy was a good policy. I still don’t think it is a good policy,” he said.

As part of the $500 million Future Fuels strategy, the government anticipates $250 million will be used to build charging stations and commercial fleets.

However, Electric Vehicles Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said the strategy ignored important initiatives to boost uptake.

“There’s no sugar coating it, Future Fuels is a fizzer,” Mr Jaafari said.

“If it contained fuel efficiency standards and rebates, it would give Australians more choice.”

Mr Morrison also expects $250 million in Future Fuels funding will be matched by private investment, with as many as 2600 jobs to be created.

“We want the customers to be able to drive the incentive for these vehicle companies to drive their costs down. We don’t want to drive those costs down by writing off the checks to multinational companies. That is not the way you do this,” he said.

As part of the government strategy, 50,000 households and 400 businesses would have access to charging stations, with 1000 public stations being built.

But Mr Jafari said there were no subsidies or tax incentives included in the the government’s strategy to boost electric vehicle uptake, while fuel efficiency measures were needed to allow more choice for customers.

“[The policy] addresses 5 per cent of what’s needed, and the 5 per cent of what it does is good,” he told ABC radio.

“It’s now 2021 and we have been waiting two years for this policy … it’s far too little, too late.”

Some 84 per cent of the population will have access to a charging station, under the government’s plan.

Labor has accused the government of copying the policies it took to the last election, which was attacked by the Coalition in the lead up to the poll.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in politics,” former opposition leader Bill Shorten told morning TV on Tuesday.

“Mr Morrison must read my policy book at night-time for ideas.”

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said Australia was falling behind globally on electric vehicle uptake.

“What we would do is eliminate the taxes, but also to make sure that companies could take up electric vehicles,” he told the ABC.

“[This is] a government that had a violent opposition to electric vehicles and now we would have it believe that have converted.”

In a separate environmental announcement, Labor is promising to spend $200 million fixing up urban waterways if it wins power in the next poll to be held by May 2022.

The program, which involves local governments and community groups, is aimed at improving water quality, reducing localised flooding and restoring habitats.

“Urban waterways are so important for quality of life,” Mr Albanese said.

“More people who live in cities and higher density housing need parks around our waterways right around our cities to engage in recreational activity.”

Links

• PM says he won't force Australians out of their cars, as government launches its electric vehicle strategy
• Australia becoming a 'dumping ground' for polluting cars as government delays signing on to international standards
• Labor promises cheaper electric cars and cash for solar powered batteries, if it wins next federal election
• Still net-zero modelling as Morrison begins EV road trip
• (AU The Guardian) Coalition Releases Electric Vehicle Strategy But Rules Out Subsidies