Nationals Net-zero backflip a betrayal of science & our country

The National Party has abandoned its commitment to net-zero by 2050, and their reasoning is as out of step with science as it is with the global economy. Leader David Littleproud said that Australia shouldn’t be doing more than other developed economies across the G20, saying "We're not going to be a laggard, but we're not going to streak ahead."

The problem is that among the G20 countries Australia is already a climate laggard. Australia’s per capita emissions are the second highest among the G20, second only to Saudi Arabia, and double the groupings average and treble the global average.

Far from streaking ahead, we are lagging behind and in large part to a lost decade of action under the Coalition governments of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. Now the National party seems determined to attempt to sabotage the next decade from opposition.

But climate isn’t the only concern here. The global economy is undergoing another industrial revolution toward clean technologies such as electric vehicles, high-tech agriculture techniques including crop gene editing and non-slaughtered proteins, green steel, and clean energy such as wind, solar and nuclear.

We've been the lucky country getting filthy rich from burning and exporting fossil fuels. But that’s quickly coming to an end and unless we pull invest and innovate in the technologies and industries of the future, Australia is at risk of severe economic decline right as we need the wealth to adapt to climate change.

The National Party’s decision over the weekend must be seen for what it is – a betrayal of Australia’s future prosperity.