First published in The Australian
By Joe Kelly
25 June 2024
Roads Australia chair Aneetha de Silva. Picture: Mark Stewart
New warnings have been sounded that Australia’s net zero target by 2050 could be “compromised” unless urgent measures are taken now to decarbonise the transport sector and develop an alternative funding stream to replace declining fuel excise revenue.
The government will not introduce road user charges on electric vehicles until after the next election, but will introduce a National Vehicle Emissions Standard from January encouraging manufacturers to sell more electric vehicles and hybrids.
Ahead of a major summit of transport leaders – including Transurban, Ventia, Arup and Aurecon – in Canberra on Wednesday, Roads Australia chair Aneetha de Silva said it was “going to be very tough for the government to hit their targets in 2030 and 2050 if we don’t resolve the decarbonisation of transport”.
The National Decarbonising Transport Summit will discuss the issues canvassed in the Infrastructure Department’s consultation paper, which seeks a mass market adoption of battery electric, hydrogen and low carbon fuels to make the transition to net zero.
Convened by the Public Transport Association Australia New Zealand, Roads Australia and the Australasian Railway Association – representing more than 500 public and private sector organisations – the summit will seek agreement on new sector-wide actions to decarbonise the transport network.
Infrastructure Department Secretary Jim Betts is also due to deliver the keynote address, with the department’s road map noting that transport is due to be the largest source of emissions in Australia by 2030.
Emissions have increased by 19 per cent since 2005, and transport activity is expected to continue to increase to 2050 in line with population and economic growth – making the task of cutting pollution even harder.
Ms de Silva told The Australian: “I think the 2050 target, against the backdrop of where we are right now and the fact we are going to have population growth across that time horizon, my concern is that if we don’t take immediate urgent steps then the overall target will be compromised and the ability to achieve net zero by 2050 will be called into question.”
Road transport is the main source of transport emissions (about 83 per cent), with emissions from light vehicles responsible for almost 60 per cent of the sector’s emissions. Heavy vehicle emissions account for 23 per cent of all transport emissions.
Ms de Silva said the government needed to address the problems of rolling out charging infrastructure and encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles while also sending the right investment signals so the private sector could bring its own innovations to the table.
She said the government should identify key “principles” to guide the development of alternative funding streams to replace declining revenue from fuel excise. Failure to do so would compromise support for the transition.
“It will have an effect on public support. It will have an effect on our productivity,” she said. “There will have to be another revenue source that will be factored into the budget.”
Public Transport Association Australia New Zealand chair Sally Stannard said Australia was one of the most climate change-exposed countries in the world and “we must act now to mitigate risks”.
“The Covid pandemic reminded us that as a sector, we can make rapid, bold changes to the transport system, so we must be innovative to deliver solutions that reduce our reliance on emission producing technology and infrastructure and provide safe, frequent and efficient mobility services,” she said.
Australasian Railway Association chief executive Caroline Wilkie said now was the right time to “act on specific measures to decarbonise across the supply chain to support sustainable transport networks”.