Climate Emergency: Is carbon neutrality an economic reality? | 7.30

The importance of mining to the australian economy  should not be underestimated it's the state that   provides the bulk of australia's exports the  bulk of australia's growing national income and   people in their thousands are flocking to western  australia the world's response to climate change   is simultaneously reshaping the global  economy global politics and the global energy. It's 15 systems 35 the top in perth with  cloud clearing apparently the clean energy   transition will have big implications for  western australia where 94 of the state's   187 billion dollars worth of exports come  from the carbon intensive resources sector. There's no doubt at all that mining and the mining   industry in general is incredibly  important to western australia. this is the quinana nickel refinery south of perth  owned by bhp the world's largest mining company   i've worked here for 10 years and before  that i worked in the oil and gas industry   and before that i was a climate  scientist i get asked a lot you know   how can you live with yourself how can you  sleep at night like people have asked me that   and i think i could be on the outside and i could  throw stones or i can be inside an organization   and try and change it from within as the vice  president of climate change and sustainability   it's fiona wilde's job to reign  in the company's carbon emissions   i think it's really important for people to hold  companies to account so what i want to do i want   to make sure that when bhp sets a target we have  a really good idea about how we're going to get   there maybe 20 years ago industry was working in  an environment where policymakers were setting   the rules and setting the pace of action on  climate change that's not the case anymore in 2019 bhp pledged to go net zero by 2050 while  the mining giant is offloading its mines that   produce coal for power stations it's holding  on to its high quality coal mines critical   for steel making coal does not have a long-term  place in our portfolio we've let the market know   that we're looking for options to exit the  energy coal business you need to have iron   ore and metallurgical coal currently to  produce a steel that's required to build   the wind turbines and the other infrastructure  that actually enables emissions to be reduced   bhp believes reducing its emissions is vital  for the company's long-term future i can't see   a downside for bhp of action on climate change  bhp actually does best in a world that rapidly   decarbonizes so for us action on climate change  isn't a trade-off with economic value action on   climate change is completely aligned with how  we build the most value for bhp they have a very   difficult track record when it comes to carbon  emissions now i think the pressure is really on   them to change it's been building since the  paris agreement but now it's really serious Australia accounts for just .3 of the world's  population but produces nearly 1.3 percent of   global emissions while 50 of our big miners  refiners and metal manufacturers have plans   to reduce emissions less than half of those  companies have targets to achieve net zero in   their operations by 2050 or sooner a controversial  issue is whether australian companies should be   partly responsible for the so-called scope 3  emissions created offshore by their customers   i think it's somewhere north of five percent if  you count our exports so it massively changes   australia's emissions profile if you count our  exports increasingly what people are saying is   that scope 3 emissions has to be everyone's  problem the speed of that transition could   really threaten australia's economic future  unless we get on board with it and understand it whether or not you believe it's big business or  government that's best placed to tackle climate   change the reality is it's business that's moving  first and fast towards a carbon net zero future   the green economy transition is  the largest economic opportunity   australia has ever had it is our largest  single job creator australia should 10,   20, 30 years from now be a resource-driven economy  it's just we'll have different types of resources   a major backer of renewables is co-founder of  software giant atlassian mike cannon brooks with   more than a billion dollars invested in renewable  energy transport and sustainable agriculture   we need to have a legislated 2050 net zero target  with interim milestones with real legislative uh   teeth that gives certainty to the uh to industry  to business on how to invest to get there but   ultimately we need to get there and we can't do  it all in 2045. this is the sort of thing that   you know we can't eat cakes for the next 25 years  and then suddenly go and get fit at the end of it   he sees the most carbon intensive industries  being squeezed out by market forces whether   or not people are buying coal whether or not  people are buying gas isn't going to be up to us   right our naivety to think that we control those  markets is baffling to me they're going to move   away from that whether we like it or not investors  are realizing both public company investors but   also banks insurance companies that that industry  is not going to be around in 20 years time   while the future of coal is in douse  the fossil fuel remains the largest   source of energy in australia's  national electricity market   but according to the energy market operator coal  fire generation is expected to fall with nine of   the remaining 16 coal-fired stations in the  national electricity market expected to close   before 2040. the value of australia's energy coal  exports is also forecast to fall from 21 billion   last financial year to 15 billion this year what  really matters in terms of coal is what happens   if your customer has to cut their admissions  substantially that is going to affect you   this goes to making people's  dreams their homes their cars   struggle street wall street it doesn't matter  good to see you mate good to see you you made   your fortune mining iron ore and fortescue emits  two million tonnes of greenhouse gas each year   what's been the cost in the making of your  fortune in terms of contributing to climate change   yeah i haven't calculated that it it crazily none  of those things got taken to account apart from   the last couple of years but i think it's it's not  a cost which society should uh shoulder i think   there is a cost if you're producing something  which has an extra emissions and you do one of   two things you either get those emissions down  or you pay for that cost fortescue metals group   chairman andrew twiggy forrest wants to make his  company carbon neutral in nine years time but   he doesn't think fortescue should also be partly  responsible for his customers emissions shouldn't   your carbon footprint also include the emissions  generated when your iron ore is processed   overseas no i i think i think that is a bridge too  far what i need to do is is not a peric victory   or a virtue signaling like saying i'm going to  try and stop my customers from using coal i can't   stop them using coal what i'm now working on is  a replacement for coal and that's green hydrogens to make steel in a way that doesn't damage  the planet it's you know the holy grail   in a sense for the australian iron ore industry we  need to grasp that opportunity we need to say with   a little bit of vision a little bit of drive and  a little bit of risk could we create a massive new   industry which creates the steel which the world  needs which is zero carbon steel that's our future i do speak to our political leaders and  they are moving government won't front   run in this industry fortis hughes decided  to step up and take that first move of risk   but i believe it's going to work and will keep on  persevering until it does work the reason we're   in this climate problem is the markets failed  because they did not recognize the true cost   of using fossil fuels the former chair of  the australian coal association ian dunlop   says business alone can't solve climate  change with the urgency required   markets are very helpful but they  have to have regulation around them   which reflects the true values of society in other  words you don't let sewage flow down the street   you know you price that you stop people doing it  you regulate against it now we haven't done that   with carmen we should have done the economic shift  away from carbon intensive industries is happening   largely because the climate science tells us  the world needs to act decisively this decade   to avoid the worst climate impacts the best  scientific evidence in fact shows that once   we stop burning fossil fuels once we stop  adding carbon pollution to the atmosphere   the warming of the planet stabilizes  fairly quickly within a few years   so there's an immediate and direct impact  of our efforts to reduce carbon emissions we know a lot about the science of  climate change we know what's going   to happen we know what effects  are going to be at a large level   the cost of that the impact to australia is  in the trillions of dollars we are going to   pay those costs we have continued to  be a regressive force in international   climate politics largely because we're the third  largest exporter of fossil fuels in the world   the minister for energy and emissions reduction  angus taylor told 730 australia's track record   is one of reducing emissions faster than our  developed country peers that australia's emissions   fell faster than those of canada new zealand japan  korea and the united states between 2005 and 2018.   don't let it be said by those who want to talk  australia down and what we're doing on missions   that we're not carrying our loan we are and we  are leading the way we're not going to meet our   climate change targets through punishing taxes  i'm not going to tax our industries off the planet   the fossil fuel industry is perhaps our most  dangerous industry in the world right now because   it'll be economics which force them to change  but they won't go down without a serious fight hi i'm leigh sales thanks for  watching this story if you'd   like to watch more of 7.30 stories  they are on the left of your screen   and tap on the button below to subscribe  and get the latest from abc news.

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 19,839

Keywords: news, abc, abc news, australia, climate change, climate emergency, earth day 2021, earth day summit, climate summit, global warming, environment, climate, carbon neutral, carbon neutral explained, carbon neutrality, carbon neutral economy

Id: 8Qr-SHhssTU

Length: 12min 20sec (740 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 22 2021