The NSW Government has convinced Nationals MPs to support a net zero emissions target. 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced the state’s new objective of halving emissions by 2030 – up from 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

“This is about putting the policies in place to give industry and investors certainty, not only to protect our planet but to future-proof our prosperity and way of life,” she said this week. 

Deputy Premier John Barilaro, leader of the state’s Nationals party, says regional communities will reap rewards.

“Whether it is in modern manufacturing, minerals or agriculture, regional NSW is home to the skills, infrastructure and resources needed as the demand for low emissions technologies like batteries and hydrogen grows,” Mr Barilaro said.

“The entire State will benefit from the economic and employment opportunities in low carbon technologies, and we will continue to take action in a way that delivers more jobs and more investment for people in the city and in the bush.”

It is seen as an astounding win in the context of Australian politics to convince the Nationals party to take climate threats seriously and embrace new industries that can be formed in response. 

It is a big turnaround for Nationals leader John Barilaro in particular, who last year said attempts to decarbonise the economy by 2050 would mean the end of mining and agriculture. 

He has now been brought around to an even more ambitious view, committing to halving the state’s emissions as soon as 2030.

Some are now hoping for similar consensus on the federal level. However, the federal Coalition remains fractured by hardline Liberal MPs and Nationals who oppose Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s half-hearted net zero push.