But the way Morrison’s deal with Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals will work is that Morrison – or rather,the taxpayer – spends billions on projects of doubtful value in return for the Nats’ agreeing to nothing more than symbolism:to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050,which will be after all the signatories are dead and gone.
The first point is that agreeing to net zero emissions in 29 years’ time is a decoy and a fig leaf if that’s all you do. To make it real you have to make a commitment you can be held to:a much bigger progress payment in the next nine years to 2030.
That,of course,is what the Glasgow conference is about. The major countries agreed on net zero months ago (as have all our premiers and many of our business and industry groups). That’s just the price of admission to the room.
What youdo in the room is proudly announce the big increase in your commitment over what you promised at the Paris meeting in 2016. Those few leaders unwilling to commit to a significant increase will be pilloried as “free-riders” (aka bludgers) on the other countries – and rightly so. You’re a brave man,Scott.
But the second point is more important:all of us will be worse off if Australia’s selfish delinquency damages the global effort to limit the extent of global warming,but the biggest losers will be the small businesses and voters the Nats’ claim to represent – the regions.
The regions will be the biggest losers because,of all the industries,agriculture will be the hardest hit by continuing global warming. Farmers’ loss of freedom to keep clearing land will the least of their worries.
But the regions lose also because we don’t get on with expanding our renewable energy industries – most of which happens in the regions – and lose any “first-mover advantage” in establishing the new generation of manufacturing industries processing hydrogen,clean steel,clean aluminium,and even clean cement using all-renewable electricity. This,too,will happen in the regions.