Business Council of Australia backs Zali Steggall’s climate change bill for 2050 net zero target

The Business Council of Australia, a business group representing mining, retail, manufacturing, banking and energy companies, has formally backed climate change legislation proposed by the independent MP Zali Steggall, saying Australia needs to set a net zero emissions target for 2050 and lay out a path to get there.

The business council’s submission, signed by the chief executive Jennifer Westacott, said it supported “strong action” on climate change, which required “setting a national target of net-zero emissions by 2050 and, critically, outlining a pathway to achieve this goal”.

The new US president, Joe Biden, has promised to use “every tool of American foreign policy to push the rest of the world” to do more. His climate envoy, John Kerry, last week said all countries must increase ambition before the Glasgow summit “or we will all fail”. “Failure is not an option,” he said.

Steggall’s legislation is backed by several other crossbenchers and the Greens. Labor is yet to make its position clear beyond saying it welcomed “any constructive action” on climate and would continue to engage with the independent, who won the Sydney seat of Warringah from the former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2019.