Fresh air and water may be harder to find but there is no shortage of global money to help Australia be more ambitious on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a summit has been told.
Australia's "dangerous addiction to coal" must end, Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said on Thursday.
"We understand the place coal occupies in the Australian economy and in Australian history and culture," he told the Carbon Markets Institute summit in Sydney.
"But the entire world must move more quickly to end its dependency on this deadly fossil fuel."
He said Australia is not only in an influential position to phase out coal sales globally, it can help avert a "climate catastrophe" and become a centre for global energy innovation with abundant renewable energy.
"Coal miners are living it too," head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Michele O'Neil said.
"Many countries are taking their commitment to a just transition just as seriously as their emissions reduction targets."
She said many countries, but sadly not Australia, pledged at the Glasgow climate summit to support workers to transition to new jobs and back wider economic and industrial change beyond clean energy.
ANZ boss Shayne Elliot said there was no shortage of investment capital, as countries and financiers promise trillions of dollars to decarbonise the world.
Mr Elliot said regulatory risk is still a factor, as the rules of engagement can change, and that's where clarity in government policy is crucial.
"Capital is generally quite patient but needs to understand the rules," he said.
Australia's voluntary carbon market is thriving, but the Coalition and Labor have been scorched by more than a decade of climate policy wars and have both rejected imposing a carbon tax.
Europe's emissions trading system requires airlines, energy firms and manufacturers to pay for their emissions. After Brexit, the United Kingdom launched its own similar scheme in January 2021.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean announced his state has become a government partner supporting the Australian Carbon Industry Code of Conduct.
The code enables enforcement action against those that deliberately mislead or disadvantage clients.
"When it comes to climate policy, governments should lead and in NSW, that's certainly the case," Mr Kean said.
NSW is aiming for a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, up from a prior goal of 35 per cent and backed by the nation's largest renewable energy plan.
Economist Laurence Tubiana, chief executive of the European Climate Foundation, said it was a disappointment not to see Australia with a better national target than that announced in 2015 of a 26 to 28 per cent emission reduction by 2030.
"And it was even more disappointing to see two days after the conclusion of COP26, that your prime minister walked back from the commitments made at Glasgow almost before the ink was dry," the former French climate change ambassador said.
Pacific nations have long been pushing for a rapid phase-out of coal-fired power plants in Australia, which Mr Kean, at odds with his federal counterparts, says can be done in his state by 2030.
James Schultz, chief executive at market participant GreenCollar, said it was not just about carbon credits.
Other important environmental markets in plastic, biodiversity and water are also expected to develop over the next decade.
Australian Associated Press
