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Scott Morrison, Australia's prime minister, removes his protective face mask after arriving for a signing ceremony with his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga at the latter's official residence in Tokyo, Japan Nov 17, 2020. (Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via REUTERS)

Australia's government is in no rush to sign up to a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, although it recognises the importance of working towards that goal, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in an interview published on Saturday (Jan 23).

Morrison's conservative government, in a surprise change of policy last month, said it would achieve its 2030 carbon emissions pledge under the Paris climate agreement without counting carbon credits from over-achieving on its previous climate targets.

"It is about whether you can produce hydrogen at the right cost, it is about whether (carbon capture and storage) can be done at the right cost, it is whether we can produce low emissions steel and aluminium at the right cost," the newspaper quoted Morrison as saying.

"That is how you actually get to net zero. You don't get there by just having some commitment. That is where the discussion has to go, and I think the (US President Joe) Biden administration provides an opportunity to really pursue that with some enthusiasm."Australia's emissions are now projected to be 29 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, compared with its Paris accord target of cutting carbon emissions by between 26 per cent and 28 per cent, based on recent growth in renewable energy and what could be achieved under an A$18 billion (US$14 billion) technology investment plan the government outlined in September.

"We all want to get there," Morrison said. "It is not about the politics anymore, it is about the technology."

He added that the timeline to commit to a zero-net-emissions target will depend on "where the science is at and where our assessment is based on the technologies"//CNA