Australia entering ‘new era’ in fight against climate change: PM
Sydney, Australia, Jul1 2 (EFE).- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that his country was entering a “new era” in the fight against climate change and developing renewable energies, in the backdrop of the Ukraine war exacerbating global energy insecurity.
“We need to act, and we will act. We will lay a new foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity,” Albanese said in his inaugural speech at the Sydney Energy Forum, while pledging that Australia would back the transition towards a “clean energy future” in the Indo-Pacific region.
Addressing entrepreneurs, politicians and investors, the prime minister said that the climate emergency could prove to be an opportunity for his country to become a renewable energy superpower, after nearly a decade of “inaction” by his predecessors, a conservative government that backed the coal industry.
In elections held on May 21, Australians had voted the Labor Party led by Albanese to power after a campaign in which he pledged to back policies promoting the transition to clean energy and fight the climate crisis.
Albanese, who assumed office in late May, has enhanced Australia’s emissions reduction target to the United Nations, aiming to reduce emissions by 43 percent by 2030 with respect to the 2005 levels, up from the 26-28 percent target set by the previous government.
He has also maintained the target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The Labor government, which is set to present a bill to strengthen the fight against climate emergency, also plans to adapt Australian industries to the use of batteries and electric cars, apart from backing projects to produce hydrogen, especially in the green hydrogen sector.
In his speech, Albanese called for more investment in renewable energies in the Indo-Pacific to develop and deploy zero-emission technology and cooperate in operating the supply chains of critical minerals.
“It is essential that the unprecedented levels of investment in clean energy technologies required over the coming decades unlocks more diverse and secure supply chains than we have today,” he said.
The Indo-Pacific region accounted for 80 percent of the global private investment in clean energy in 2021, according to the speech released by the office of the prime minister, who is set to participate in the meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum leaders in Fiji on Wednesday and Thursday, with the climate crisis being a key item on the agenda.
“Australia will once again be a trusted global partner on climate action,” vowed Albanese, whose government signed an agreement with the United States on Tuesday to develop and use zero-emission technology and cooperate on critical mineral supply chains. EFE
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