- Prime minister Scott Morrison says his country have clear plan to achieve target
CANBERRA (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday announced his long-delayed plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050 ahead of the UN next week Glasgow climate summit.
Premier Morrison said he is determined to shield his nation from the negative impact of these changes while positioning them to take advantage of the many opportunities presented, especially for rural and regional Australia.
“At Glasgow I will confirm that Australia will continue to play our part,” he announced in an opinion piece published on his official website.
“We will set a target to achieve net zero by 2050, and have a clear plan for achieving it. I always said I would not set a target to achieve net zero by 2050 unless we had a plan to achieve it. We now have that plan,” he added.
Earlier in August, Morrison had refused to commit to the UN target of net zero emissions by 2050 and said: “I won’t be signing a blank cheque on behalf of Australians to targets without plans.”
Morrison now didn’t shared details about his plan, however he said that his country will meet the target with their own way.
“Our decision to now agree to a plan to achieve the target of net zero emissions by 2050 has not been taken lightly,” he said and adding they agreed after carefully thinking through all the consequences and impacts, especially in rural and regional areas.
“We have not and would never make a blank cheque commitment or impose new taxes, as Labor has, to achieve net zero. That would leave Australians footing the bill,” he said.
Talking about his earlier refusal to make any pledge, Morrison said his country was action on climate change but his nation also don’t want their electricity bills to skyrocket, the lights to go off, for their jobs to be put at risk or for the way of life in rural and regional communities to be sacrificed.
“We will do this the Australian way. Through technology, not taxes. By respecting people’s choices and not enforcing mandates on what people can do and buy. By keeping our industries and regions running and household power bills down by ensuring energy is affordable and reliable. By being transparent about what we are achieving, and expecting the same of other countries,” he explained.
“We won’t be lectured by others who do not understand Australia. The Australian Way is all about how you do it, and not if you do it. It’s about getting it done,” Premier Morrison wrote in a opinion piece, that published on his official website.
“We understand the threats faced but also the opportunities that can be realized,” he added.
Australia’s is among those countries who are criticized for among world most polluted countries.
In August, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was warned that over the next 20 years, the global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The IPCC experts projected that in the coming decades climate changes will increase in all regions, saying for 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, there will be increasing heat waves, longer warm seasons and shorter cold seasons.
“At 2°C of global warming, heat extremes would more often reach critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health,” the report added.
