The council’s new report argues by accelerating emissions reduction and seizing the “first mover advantage”,average Australians would be $5000 a year better off by 2050,and those in the regions would gain the biggest economic benefit and the majority of almost 200,000 extra jobs by 2070.
Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott – who before the last election labelled federal Labor’s policy of a 45 per cent cut as “economy wrecking” – now says Australia’s biggest trading partners were already making the transition and Australian businesses were acting,as were global capital markets.
“Preparing for the future means Australia must be more ambitious in the short term,and we can be because we’re already on track to meet our interim targets,” she said.
The Morrison government is edging closer towards formally adopting a target to hit net zero emissions by 2050 ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit next month and has been urged by its closest allies,the United States and Britain,to lift its 2030 targets from the 26-28 per cent that it adopted through the Paris accord.
The business-led push will coincide with a new campaign from media giant News Corp Australia,which is expected to bring its campaign endorsing net zero forward to next week. But environmental groups and progressive think-tank The Australian Institute argue any government commitment would be meaningless without urgently phasing out fossil fuels and 2050 is too late to hit net zero.
Ms Westacott said setting a more ambitious interim target now would drive new investment and bring forward action in sectors such as electricity where commercially viable technology can be deployed at scale.