Japan and Australia attack IEA's ‘net zero’ pathway
But private investors are pushing to make it a reality
Australia and Japan are finding common cause on two incongruous issues: opposition to the International Energy Agency’s net zero roadmap, and exports of ‘green’ ammonia and hydrogen. This absurd situation highlights how both governments are clinging to the status quo even as private investors seek to build new industries around zero-emissions fuels.
Officials in Canberra and Tokyo have both been quick to voice dissent to the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions scenario. They seem to be irked by the call to end investment in new coal, oil and gas projects to get the world onto a Paris-compliant emissions pathway.
“It’s a fact that there are sections the Japanese government does not agree with,” trade and industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama was quoted as saying, in reference to halting new fossil fuel investment and phasing out coal.
Australian resources minister Keith Pitt argued