Electric Vehicle Council calls on Aus government for emissions policy

Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) has called on the government to enact emissions policies in line with calls from the United Nations to slash carbon output by 2030. The EVC claims a “dramatic shift” to electric vehicles will be necessary for Australia to meet the 2030 emissions target. 

With transport the third-largest cause of Australia’s carbon emissions, the EVC is calling upon the government to introduce policy to speed up a transition to zero-exhaust vehicles. The council also claims in order to meet a 2050 net-zero target, every vehicle sold in the country by 2035 will need to be electric.

“Accelerating Australia’s inevitable transition to superior electric vehicles is the most straightforward way the federal government can act now to drive down emissions,” EVC chief executive, Behyad Jafari said. 

Norway has led the world in adoption of electric vehicles, with government policies being enacted as far back as 30 years ago to encourage their uptake. The last 10 years have seen a dramatic shift away from petrol vehicles in the country, and now almost 80% of new vehicle sales are electric cars. 

On the world stage, Australia is behind on both emission reduction and the uptake of electric vehicles. Fewer than 1% of new vehicle sales in the country are electric cars, while we rank third-last among developed countries in terms of emissions. 

State Governments have grown tired of a lack of federal policy, with NSW announcing its own emission reduction policy and the ACT following soon after. Each Australian state and territory has committed to a net-zero 2050 goal, yet the federal government refuses to enact a target of its own.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now confirmed he will attend the COP26 climate change conference in November, however the coalition government is yet to commit to a 2050 net-zero target. There are rumours that Morrison will push the government to commit to a verbal agreement prior to the summit in Glasgow, although whether that does eventuate is yet to be seen.

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