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Australia needs to “science the shit out of” climate change and reimagine the country’s future to reduce carbon emissions, according to experts speaking at a recent event.
Assistant climate change and energy minister Josh Wilson urged Australia to shift away from being a top exporter of iron ore, coal and gas.
“We shouldn’t limit ourselves by sticking with old stories about who we are, and what we can or can’t do,” he said during a speech at the Better Futures Forum in Canberra earlier this month.
“There’s no reason why green hydrogen and green metals and new energy minerals shouldn’t be pressing their claim as leading Australian exports of the future,” he added, stating that manufactured products such as battery systems and solar energy components should be part of the picture too.
“We should be prepared to conceive of and create a better future,” he said.
Need for innovation
Also speaking at the event, Michael Battaglia, mission lead for the Towards Net Zero Mission at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, stressed the scale of the challenge and the importance of innovation.
“We’re going to have to science the shit out of this,” he is quoted as saying, seemingly taking inspiration from Matt Damon’s famous line in the film The Martian. “We’re going to have to innovate the shit out of this.”
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A recent review by the independent Climate Change Authority in Australia, requested by the Australian parliament, found that there are many pathways to decarbonising the country by 2050 using existing, mature technologies, as well as options for rapid development of emerging low emissions technologies, such as hydrogen and engineered carbon removals. The report focused on six sectors: agriculture and land; built environment; electricity and energy; industry and waste; transport; and resources.
Battaglia noted that even that roadmap shows a large residual component of emissions that will be challenging to deal with.
“If we’re going to make this challenge, we’re really going to have to deploy science in the service of society and embed science into collaborative structures,” he said.
Economic case
New Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean told event delegates that he would be guided in his role by “a faith in science, evidence, engineering and economics, not ideology” and “a belief that the economic case for reducing our emissions is just as compelling as the environmental case”.
He said renewable energy is the most affordable solution available and supports households and businesses that depend on reliable, low-cost clean energy.
The Climate Change Authority is currently developing advice on the 2035 targets for Australia’s next emissions reduction commitments.
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