PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia and Japan have jointly committed to support initiatives to help drive a transition to net zero emissions, Australian Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor announced this week.
“Japan and Australia consider a technology-led response is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also ensuring economic growth and job creation. We share an ambition to accelerate the development and commercialisation of low and zero emissions technologies as soon as possible, as achieving cost parity with high emitting alternatives is vital for decarbonisation efforts,” Taylor said.
“Japan and Australia are determined to make low and zero emissions technologies that will underpin decarbonisation strategies to make them globally scalable and commercially viable, through collaboration on technology research and development, in order to rapidly accelerate global emissions reduction and reach net zero emissions.”
The two nations have committed to collaborate and coordinate, along with key likeminded partners regionally and multilaterally, on ways to support economic growth and resilience of the Indo-Pacific region and particularly among ASEAN members.
This commitment will be displayed, by supporting regional partners in their pragmatic and clean energy transitions in various forms, which reflect their own circumstances and increasingly use low and zero emissions technologies and energy resources, to meet the region’s growing energy demands.
“We, together with their partners, will coordinate approaches wherever possible on support for clean, pragmatic and realistic energy transitions in the region, including for developing countries, through finance, capacity building, technology development and deployment support, and knowledge sharing,” Taylor said.
Japan and Australia have committed to jointly supporting initiatives that will help drive the transitions to net zero emissions, increasing joint focus on lower emissions liquefied natural gas production, transport and use; clean fuel ammonia, clean hydrogen and derivatives produced from renewable energy or from fossil fuels with substantial carbon capture, utilisation and storage; carbon capture utilisation and storage; carbon recycling; and low emissions steel and iron-ore.
“In support of this shared objective, Japan and Australia will provide financial support, as appropriate, to advance initiatives that will contribute to the development and deployment of low and zero emissions technologies. We commit to collaborate on the development of initiatives that would leverage funding from other sources, including subnational governments and the private sector,” the Minister said.
This partnership builds on cooperation through initiatives and statements such as the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain, the Japan-Australia Energy and Resources Dialogue and the Australia-Japan Joint Statement of Cooperation on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells.