Chris Bowen has admitted Labor has “more work to do” to achieve lower electricity prices.
The Climate Change Minister’s opening address at COP31 in Turkey called on nations to take faster action on “electrification”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to jet off on Tuesday afternoon for the UN climate talks, where leaders are expected to make a pledge to have 35 per cent of the world powered by electricity by 2035.
But Coalition has raised concerns about their COP31 attendance and warned the duo to counter “green tariffs” and “harebrained ideas” at the conference which would lock Australia into stricter EU climate rules.
Mr Bowen was appointed president of negotiations for COP31 after a compromise with Turkey over hosting rights, which resulted in Antalya holding the main event and pre-COP events hosted by Pacific partners.
In his address he said countries must move faster on electrification, climate finance, and resilience.
“The eyes of the world are on us and Turkey has given us the very best possible platform,” Mr Bowen said.
He also sought to build consensus around practical actions that keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal alive.
“While the challenge is growing, so is our response. Before Paris, the world was heading for warming approaching 4 degrees. Today, projections are closer to 2.6 degrees,” Mr Bowen said.
“This should give us confidence. We are seeing our efforts turn into action on the ground. But we must move faster.”
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The global summit will run until November 20 and will this week focus on its flagship electrification pledge for faster uptake and less reliance on fossil fuels.
On the sideline of the conference, however, Mr Bowen was asked by reporters if there was evidence of lower prices in Australia — where electrification is among the world’s highest.
“We’ve got wholesale prices down, we are one of the very few countries doing that and we have got a bit more work to do to have that flowing through to consumers,” he told The Australian.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan on Tuesday accused Labor of “wasting” money in sending Mr Bowen and the PM to Turkey, while ignoring the financial pressures on ordinary Australians were facing at home.
“Over there at this latest climate conference is while your power bills are high, your power bills are higher because this federal Labor government is wasting [money] and not focused on the domestic power pressures, power price pressures here in Australia,” Senator Canavan told News24.
It echoed shadow energy minister Dan Tehan criticisms, telling The Nightly on Monday that the PM shouldn’t have to travel over to “hold Chris Bowen’s hand”.
On Tuesday morning Mr Tehan told ABC radio he had concerns that Australia could consider The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) while in Turkey, which is used by the European Union to address carbon leakage by aligning the carbon costs of foreign producers with those of EU producers.
“What we’re deeply concerned about, and I think we’ll see approaches in Turkey at this climate change conference for this to be embedded, and this is something the Australian government should fight,” Mr Tehan told ABC Radio.
“This is a step back for the globe. It’s not the right approach that countries should take … This will be a backward step and my hope is we will see our government fight this tooth and nail.”
Mr Bowen had also talked up the “very important” role of gas in firming through the energy transition in a separate interview.
“Gas is a very important firming mechanism,” he told Politico on the sideline of COP31.
“Our approach is that gas can play a role in peaking and firming.
“A gas-fired power station can be very flexible, particularly a new one, can be turned on and off at, like, two minutes’ notice.
“And so it might only come on for an hour a day or two hours a day, as opposed to coal, which runs all the time.
“So, we take quite a pragmatic approach there. We are not attracted to using gas all the time because it is high emissions and expensive as well.”
Mr Bowen has also announced a new partnership between Australia and Denmark overnight to create new “economic opportunities, technology development, investment and jobs”.
The climate and energy partnership followed talks with Australian-born Queen Mary of Denmark.
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