: The clean energy revolution fuelled by Joe Biden’s historic climate change bill had changed the economic landscape and required Australia to be more competitive or risk falling behind, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott has warned.
“Countries like ours can’t duplicate that big expenditure, but at the same time, we cannot sit by and let other countries eat our lunch.” However, the policy has caused friction with Europe, where some nations fear they will miss out on investment. The Biden administration, meanwhile, says its message has been consistent.“We will unapologetically pursue our industrial strategy at home,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during a speech in April, “but we are unambiguously committed to not leaving our friends behind.”
“It’s how we respond to the Inflation Reduction Act that really matters,” she said. “We are going to have to double down on sensible industry policy to drive our comparative advantages and absolutely double down on getting the economic fundamentals right like we have never done before.” The pact between Canada, Australia, the US, Germany, France, Japan and the UK, commits to mining and developing critical minerals sustainably and in a way that also respects Indigenous rights.
Westacott said transitioning to clean energy provided huge opportunities but also enormous risk and costs. She also noted that developing nations need reliable and affordable sources of energy, and “telling these countries to decarbonise before they’ve industrialised could become a major tension.”