Industrial heavyweights call for urgent action on cutting Australia’s emissions
(The Guardian, 3 Apr 2023) In joint statement companies say they are ‘ready to seize opportunity’ of decarbonisation and call on others to join them.
Some of Australia’s biggest heavy industrial companies – including BHP, BlueScope, Rio Tinto and Woodside – say urgent action is needed from governments, investors and business for Australia to cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with its goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C.
A joint statement signed by 17 members of the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative follows their support for a report in February that found they could cut direct emissions in their supply chains by more than 90% by 2050 without relying heavily on carbon offsets.
The ETI lists several objectives necessary for heavy industry to reach net zero emissions at a pace consistent with limiting heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, including the construction of a “large-scale, cost-competitive, renewable energy system of the future” and the development of “integrated net zero emissions industrial regions”.
The signatory companies did not specify what limiting heating to 1.5C should mean for the country’s emissions reduction targets. Scientists have said it demands an emissions cut of at least 57% and up to 75% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels – well beyond the Albanese government’s 43% target – and reaching net zero much earlier than 2050.
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The Guardian, 3 Apr 2023: Industrial heavyweights call for urgent action on cutting Australia’s emissionsShare this on social media
