PLEA Network

18 July 2023, Climate Home News: Australia will update the ‘fantasy’ net zero plan it inherited. Australian climate and energy minister Chris Bowen has slammed his country’s official net zero plan – lodged by the previous Coalition government – as a “fantasy” as he announces plans to create sectoral decarbonisation plans. Bowen told the Australian Clean Energy Summit on Tuesday that he gad asked the Climate Change Authority to update Australia’s Net Zero 2050 plan and replace it with a new plan that lays out robust actions plans for the electricity, industry, building, transport, resources and land sectors. “As you know, Australia’s currently lodged 2050 plan is a fantasy, invented by the Morrison Government,” Bowen said. “It assumes future technologies will do the heavy lifting without any effort or investment to bring them about.” He said the new sector-by-sector decarbonisation plans would be crucial to laying out a pathway to net zero and to inform Australia’s 2035 emissions targets. But he rejected calls by the Greens – Australia’s green party – and numerous environmental groups to set a net zero target for 2035. Read more here