Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate
Thank you Mr President for your leadership and for bringing us together today. I’m indeed delighted to join you from Australia this evening.
Strong climate action is at the very top of my Government’s agenda and it is a clear priority for the Australian people.
We are moving swiftly to drive down emissions and seize the opportunities of the global net zero transformation.
Already, within our first year of Government, we’ve enshrined new climate targets in law for the first time, providing certainty and stability to drive investment.
Our 2030 target – 43 per cent below 2005 levels – will require ambitious action, but we are determined to achieve it.
We’ve also put our 215 biggest industrial emitters on the path to net zero by 2050 by passing a law that caps their emissions. This reform will mean they cut emissions by nearly 5 per cent every year.
This week, my Government has announced Australia’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy to increase the supply of electric vehicles and encourage their rapid uptake.
Since we last met, Australia has joined the Global Methane Pledge, and we are working to find innovative ways to drive down these emissions.
We’re making sure we get more renewable energy into homes and businesses by modernising our energy grid, and we’re encouraging our industries to take up clean energy technologies through a new national government investment vehicle, our National Reconstruction Fund.
Together, these actions will boost the share of renewable electricity generation in Australia to our target of 82 per cent by 2030.
My ambition is to transform Australia into a renewable energy superpower.
Our abundant sources of renewable energy and critical minerals underpin our competitive advantage in the net zero economy, with exports like green hydrogen supporting economic prosperity and energy security, particularly in our region.
It will be crucial for the net zero transformation that we create diverse, resilient and sustainable clean energy supply chains.
Australia knows that we cannot do this alone. The International Energy Agency analysis shows that globally we need to triple clean energy investment by 2030.
For economies across the Indo-Pacific, we need to close the climate financing gap.
And work together to support the rapid transformation of global financial architecture to mobilise and align both private and public finance in support of the Paris Agreement goals.
Of course, Pacific Island countries have been at the forefront of global climate action.
Climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of our Pacific family.
We must do more to help the Pacific address what is an existential threat, especially for smaller Pacific nations.
We want to work with global partners to drive ambitious climate action and investment to keep 1.5 degrees within reach.
And to realise the economic opportunities for all countries in our transition to a net-zero world.
We all share in the challenges. And we all share in the possibilities.
That’s why we must all act together.
Australia will play our part.
Thank you.