The United States and Australia have stressed the importance of breaking China’s almost total dependence on the supply of zero-emission technology as they sign a new agreement that promises to accelerate the development of climate solutions.
At a joint news conference in Sydney, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a “zero technology acceleration partnership,” which includes a initial in long-term energy storage and digitization. electrical networks.
They said the deal was motivated in part by the need for clean energy and a critical mineral supply chain that did not depend so much on China, which is responsible for about 80 percent of manufacturing technology. solar energy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), it is expected to reach 95% by 2025.
Granholm compared the risk of China’s reliance on clean technology to the West’s over-reliance on Russian fossil fuels, a mistake that sparked a global energy crisis after it invaded Ukraine.
“I am concerned that China has much of the technology and supply chains that could make us vulnerable if we do not develop our own supply chains,” he said. “From an energy security perspective, it is imperative that nations that share the same values develop our own supply chains, not just for climate, but for our energy security.
“We’ve seen what happens when we rely too much on an entity for our fuel source, and we don’t want that to happen, so diversifying those energy sources and connecting with partners is part of our energy security.”
Bowen agreed. “It’s good for our own economies and it’s good for our national security to have supply chains between us, but also between friends and allies,” he said.
The Australian minister said the association “would work to ensure that critical mineral supply chains are safe and resilient”. That meant increasing production, processing and manufacturing capacity, he said. “The partnership is a commitment to make climate change a central part of our alliance with the US,” he said.
Granholm said the switch to renewables could be “the biggest peace plan of all,” as no country could be “held hostage” for its access to solar and wind resources. “They have never been armed, nor will they be,” he said.
The Australia-US partnership included few details, but said countries would also focus on supporting the integration of variable renewable energy and the development of hydrogen and carbon dioxide removal, including technology. of direct air capture.
It was revealed on the sidelines of the Sydney Energy Forum, jointly organized by the Australian government and the IEA. A common theme among the speakers at the forum was the importance of focusing on renewable energy to address the crisis caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
IEA chief executive Fatih Birol said the world was in the midst of “the world’s first energy crisis” due to its over-reliance on Russian oil, gas and coal. He said it could get worse as the northern hemisphere enters winter, but expressed hope it could lead governments to accelerate the shift to renewable energy.
Birol said about 40% of energy policies worldwide were introduced in response to the oil crisis of the 1970s. He had “high hopes” that the move to clean energy would be similarly accelerated now.
He said solar energy had grown dramatically around the world because it was cheap and that people who argued that renewable energy policy was partly to blame for the crisis were “absolutely wrong”. “In fact, and in my opinion, ethically, this is very wrong and misleading,” he said.
The forum was opened by Anthony Albanese arguing that Australia had rejoined the ranks of a “trusted global partner”. The prime minister later told reporters it was time for Australia to “stop the nonsense”, “wake up” and work to overcome the political divide to end the climate wars.
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Albanese said the latest round of catastrophic floods caused the case to continue with more ambitious policy legislation. He said Labor will try to legislate its emissions target in the medium term when parliament is resumed and, if MPs or senators decide to vote against the legislation, “they will take responsibility for it”.
The prime minister said he was open to “sensible amendments” but not to “playing with figures taken from the air”, and reiterated that Labor intended to meet its target of reducing emissions by 43% by 2030 in compared to the 2005 he had modeled. last year.
The Greens and some independents have called for a higher target, ranging from 50% to 75%, based on the advice of climate scientists.