APEC: Albanese calls on partners to rise to climate challenge as he leaves 2035 timeline vague

Anthony Albanese will tell Asia-Pacific partners they have an “unprecedented chance” to benefit from climate change, but has failed to commit to setting Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction target before the next election.

The election of Donald Trump has thrown the future of global climate change action in doubt, given his intention to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement and roll back clean energy investment.

Against that backdrop, the Prime Minster will make an intervention at the last session of APEC on Saturday morning (local Peru time) where he will ask regional partners to stay the course.

He will call for economies to take greater action to cut their emissions, and talk up the role the region has to “seize the opportunities” of the net zero transition.

“Acting on climate change and embracing clean energy is both the most significant challenge and the biggest opportunity facing all our citizens,” he will say.

“And if we can work together through APEC to forge new co-operation and achieve new progress, then the enduring value and power of this forum will be demonstrated.”

Both APEC and next week’s G20 forum in Brazil have climate high on the agenda. Both summits coincide with COP 29 in Azerbaijan, where this week UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer committed his country to an 81 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035, an update from the previous government’s 78 per cent target.

Speaking at the summit, Sir Keir said the new UK target would be “difficult” but “achievable”, and he wanted government to “tread lightly on people’s lives”.

When Mr Albanese was asked on Friday if he was willing to be more ambitious with Australia’s own 2035 target, the PM pointed to the 2030 target his Government legislated when it came to power.

But despite the Government having previously indicated it would release its 2035 target by February, Mr Albanese when asked would not commit to setting that figure before the next election – due by May.

“We’re committing to our 2035 target. It’s legislated, and 2030 comes before 2035, and we’re very focused on delivering and we’re on track to delivering that target,” he said.

In his APEC intervention on Saturday, Mr Albanese will stress the importance of shoring up supply chains, saying the “turmoil of the past few years” had underscored that “energy security is economic security”.

He will also outline his ambition for Australia to become a renewable energy “superpower” that helps power the region’s growing economies.

He will say APEC needs to “build a new model for economic and scientific co-operation”, and while recognising every country will chart the course differently, “our ultimate destination is the same”.

The PM will also talk up his Government’s work to strengthen and streamline clean energy investment, comments that come days after he suggested Australia stood to benefit should the incoming Trump Administration wind back the net zero transition.

“We’re also working to strengthen and streamline investment in renewable energy projects. This is about attracting new international investment in Australia, and it’s about catalysing new investment in our region.”

Mr Albanese will leave Peru on Saturday afternoon (local time) before travelling to Brazil for the G20 summit.

He hopes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines.