That means a lot of the policy is about what the government wants to happen,not so much what it will make happen.
To be precise,15 per cent of the work in reducing emissions comes from “global technology trends” and another 15 per cent from “further technology breakthroughs” as well as up to 20 per cent from trading in carbon offsets.
About 20 per cent of the cut to emissions from 2005 to 2050 is already banked. This reduction has been mostly achieved through changes to land clearing – a claim the environmental movement disputes but is within the rules of the United Nations protocols.
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Another 40 per cent is meant to come from the government’s technology investment road map,a $20 billion spending scheme that was announced last year – and another big bet on promising but unproven ideas such as hydrogen.
All of this was known for months,if not years,when Morrison prevaricated over net zero and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce argued the target would wreck the economy.
What changed? There was no new measure on Tuesday to explain what would take Australia from its old target to the new one.