One of the true litmus tests for a net zero target is whether there is a strong interim ambition for emissions reductions before 2050. This futuristic shopping list of emissions reductions is also strung along a timescale vastly inadequate to counter the speed and scale of global heating. Australia’s announcement perfectly illustrates how easy it is to use a “net zero” pledge to greenwash climate inaction – and, of course, it will take more than just rhetoric to reverse the damage wrought on people and planet over the past century.
The bare-faced commitment to both fossil fuels and net zero would be laughable if not for the earth-shattering climate impacts that continued production of fossil fuels are causing. It will rely instead on 40% of emissions cuts from a technology investment roadmap, “global technology trends” for 15%, domestic and international offsets for 10-20%, and “unknown future technology” for a further 15%. Miraculously, Australia says it will achieve its climate targets without ending any of its fossil fuel production or exports.
Sheltered within the comforting and technocratic term of “net zero” is the horrifying potential of the status quo. Unfortunately, rather than land on its feet, it has ended up in a messy scrum of Trump-style boasting and empty promises.
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