The Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) urges Prime Minister Scott Morrison to use his attendance at this week’s Leaders Summit on Climate to commit Australia to achieving net zero carbon emissions by no later than 2050.
The Prime Minister is one of 40 world leaders invited to the virtual summit hosted by US President Joe Biden on 22-23 April.
The Summit aims to catalyse efforts to keep the world under 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, and is a key milestone on the road to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) this year.
ATSE believes this is a critical and timely opportunity for Australia to demonstrate strong action and leadership on climate.
The evidence is unequivocal that extreme weather events like the recent devastating bushfires, storms and floods in Australia will increase in frequency as the planet warms.
Australia needs to take urgent action, and reaching net zero emissions by mid-century is an absolute minimum if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The Academy asserts that Australia has the technology and engineering solutions to reach net zero emissions and mitigate those climate risks – potentially much earlier than 2050 – but a strong policy commitment and signals to industry are needed in order to achieve it.
This summit is a timely opportunity for Australia to signal to the world that we are ready to commit to this ambitious action and become a global clean energy leader.
Media contact: Liz Foschia liz.foschia@atse.org.au 0419 976 903
The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering is a Learned Academy of independent experts helping Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems.