Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
Powered by momentummedia
nestegg logo

Invest

Will Morrison commit to net zero by 2050?

  • September 24 2021
  • Share

Invest

Will Morrison commit to net zero by 2050?

By Maja Garaca Djurdjevic
September 24 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has yet again played down the impacts of climate change, referring to net zero as an aggressive and frustrating target.

Will Morrison commit to net zero by 2050?

author image
  • September 24 2021
  • Share

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has yet again played down the impacts of climate change, referring to net zero as an aggressive and frustrating target.

net zero

Australia’s PM was grilled in Washington on whether Australia would join the US and other Western peers in pledging to reduce global warming and build resilience to climate change by 2050. But, resolute in his resistance to the pledge, Scott Morrison termed the net zero goal as “aggressive”.

Asked whether Australia had decided to go net zero by 2050, the PM told reporters: “If Australia had made such a decision, I would have announced it.

“Australia has not made a final decision on that matter. I will consider it further when I return to Australia.”

Advertisement
Advertisement

Seemingly diverting the attention away from Australia, Mr Morrison added: “If we want to make a difference on climate change, we’ve got to make a difference everywhere, not just in advanced economies.”

net zero

Mr Morrison is due to attend the UN climate summit in Glasgow in November, where he is expected to, in fact, commit to net zero by 2050.

Last year, Mr Morrison received a very cool reception by the UN after it decided to block the PM from speaking at the summit, having deemed his climate change policies too weak.

Following the snub, the PM attended the Pacific Island Forum and used this platform to send a message to the UN — instead of committing to net zero by 2050, Australia would chase its own, unspecified, targets.

But with the federal election just around the corner, the PM is now likely to change his tune, with a recent survey conducted for The Sydney Morning Herald revealing as many as 60 per cent of Aussies support the adoption of a 2050 “net zero” target.

Moreover, just this month, the Reserve Bank of Australia released a report warning that physical and transitional risks stemming from the climate crisis could have a systemic impact on the Australian financial system.

The paper, which outlines preliminary estimates of the possible scale of climate exposure facing Australian banks, the RBA estimated that if left unmanaged, climate change could spell real trouble for the local financial system.

Forward this article to a friend. Follow us on Linkedin. Join us on Facebook. Find us on X for the latest updates
Rate the article

About the author

author image

Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is the editor of nestegg and Smart Property Investment. Email Maja at [email protected]

About the author

author image
Maja Garaca Djurdjevic

Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is the editor of nestegg and Smart Property Investment. Email Maja at [email protected]

more on this topic

more on this topic

More articles