Australia could be a 'green economic powerhouse'

Australia can be a “green economic powerhouse” with the advantage of renewables to help combat climate change, according to Oxford University Economic Recovery Project Lead Brian O’Callaghan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the last week signed off on ne zero by 2050 and released a plan to get there through a technology driven approach.

“When you listen to Morrison speak to the report, it was ‘we don’t need to do anything, technology is going to get us the whole way there’ and technology has come a long way and it will continue to advance, but it’s not going to get us the whole way,” Mr O’Callaghan told Sky News Australia.

“We, like the rest of the world, need to take action to make these cuts happen and to make the most of them for Australia.

“We could be a green economic powerhouse; we really are seen as the absolute leader in that space, we could be, but without the requisite investment, which is not going to get there; we’re going to say goodbye to that natural advantage.”

Mr O’Callaghan said he would love to have seen “itemised dot points” of the different investment initiatives, consumer incentives, and regulatory changes for each sector, each decade, until net zero by 2050 target in reached.