11 August 2008, Hilton Hotel, Beijing

Acknowledgements

Dr Geoff Raby – Australian Ambassador
Mr Peter O’Byrne – CEO Austrade
Mr Li Junfeng – China Renewable Energy Industries Association
Members of the Clean Energy Delegation
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me warmly welcome our distinguished Chinese guests to Austrade’s Business Club Australia, a hub for business meetings throughout the Olympics.

Let me also congratulate China on the terrific start to the Beijing Olympics – the events have been sensational, the facilities are fantastic, and China’s friendliness and warm hospitality will ensure that these will be a great Olympic Games.

Given Beijing’s emphasis on a “green Olympics” this is a perfect platform to show what Australia and China can do together on climate change and environmental management.

Australia’s response to Climate Change

Climate change is one of the greatest economic, social, and environmental challenges of our time.

Expert scientific evidence confirms that human activity is altering the climate.

This is changing rainfall patterns, reducing water availability in Australia and increasing the frequency of severe weather events such as bushfires and storms.

The Australian Government takes the challenge of climate change seriously.

The first action of the new Australian Government in December last year was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. 

Reflecting the urgency and importance of addressing climate change our policy approach is to:

• reduce greenhouse pollution in Australia in the short and long term;
• work with the international community to develop a global response that is effective and fair; and to
• prepare for the climate change that we cannot avoid.

Australia’s Climate Change Action

The centrepiece of Australia’s response to climate change is the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

Under the Scheme, the Government will set a limit on how much carbon pollution industry can produce, and then sell permits up to that limit. This will enable the market to find the most efficient – and lowest cost – ways of reducing carbon.

The scheme will reform and indeed transform the Australian economy.

By introducing a price for carbon pollution, we will drive investment in low emissions products and technology and create new green industries and green jobs.

The Scheme will be complemented by other policies to stimulate green investment and innovation:

• a Mandatory Renewable Energy Target to require 20% of all electricity to be sourced from renewable sources by 2020
• a $500 million Clean Coal Fund to accelerate the use of clean coal technologies
• and landmark legislation to establish the world’s first comprehensive carbon capture and storage framework.

In addition to the environmental imperative of climate change, I strongly believe it provides economic, trade and employment opportunities. 

Innovation and improved carbon productivity will enable us to maintain and improve our living standards while reducing our impact on the environment, but trade policy also has an important role to play.

As I said at the Trade Minister’s Climate Change meeting in Bali last December, open trade policies will be critical to the diffusion of new environmentally friendly technologies, in particular to developing countries.

As you know, demand for these technologies is growing rapidly in emerging economies like China.  

So much so that the global market for renewable energy is expected to be worth US$750 billion a year by 2016.

Australia is well endowed with renewable energy sources, a strong skills base and highly innovative companies like the ones here today.  We also now have policies to encourage investment in clean technologies.

The rapidly growing overseas markets for clean energy – like that in China - offers greater scale than is possible in Australia alone and presents a major opportunity for our exporters.

At a lunch which the Prime Minister and I attended earlier this week, along with major Australian energy resource CEOs and major Chinese energy companies, there was strong agreement on the potential and need for our respective companies to cooperatively pursue clean coal and other pollution abatement technologies. 

This morning I also received very strong signals on the policy front from the National Development and Reform Commission Chairman, Mr Zhang Ping, on the need for Australia and China to work cooperatively and collaboratively to address the challenges of climate change.

Clean Energy Export Strategy

To help Australian businesses capture a share of overseas markets, the Australian Government is committed to a Clean Energy Export Strategy. The Strategy will help clean energy firms:

• Identify export markets, including technological and consumer trends, and major projects and events – like this one today;
• Access domestic government support for the clean energy sector;
• Take advantage of overseas governments’ climate change policies and regulatory developments that may provide new market opportunities; and
• Build relationships with local businesses, government and industry groups in the clean energy sector overseas.

Credentials of the Clean Energy Mission

Reflecting Australia’s long standing interest and expertise in renewable energy the members of our Clean Energy Mission are drawn from a broad cross section of the industry.

Among the members of the delegation, we have world leaders in:

• wind energy technology
• ‘gas to energy’ technology
• environmental technologies for air pollution control
• promoting the sustainability of commercial buildings
• research in photovoltaics , and
• coal seam gas.

While Australia has had a long history in the development of clean energy technologies we have not done so well in commercialising that technology and that is why it is so important to pursue international partnerships to help take our technology to the rest of the world. 

Clean Energy Cooperation

Our two countries both face the major challenge of climate change, and the need to embrace clean energy and technology as the major platform for our abatement efforts.

As Prime Minister Rudd told Premier Wen Jiabao during his visit to Beijing this past week Australia is committed to further strengthening our cooperation with China to jointly meet the challenge of climate change.

Our two countries have a history of working together on this important issue.

We worked together at the COP13 to finalise the Bali Roadmap on an international framework for addressing climate change into the future. 

During Prime Minister Rudd’s visit to Beijing in April and again this week, our Leaders committed to meeting at Ministerial level on an annual basis to strengthen our cooperation on climate change.

Our two countries will elevate considerably the intensity of our technical, scientific and commercial cooperation in the area of clean coal technology.

The Australian Government is investing A$20 million in an Australia-China Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology, drawn from our Clean Coal Fund.

In addition, we have entered into an Australia-China Climate Change Partnership and an Australia China Environment Development Program as part of the new, strengthened efforts to work with China to address climate change.

• Together, we are conducting a feasibility study into the development of the largest solar city in the world at Weihai in northeast China.
• Together we will create a global ‘showcase’ of solar technologies.
• Together we are exploring a pilot project applying Australia’s National Carbon Accounting System at a provincial level in China.
• Together we are trialling the Australian river health monitoring systems in the Yellow river, in the Pearl River Basin and in the Da Ling River.

The Gaobeidian coal power station in Beijing is the site of a pilot post-combustion carbon capture project, a joint initiative by Australia’s CSIRO Energy Transformed National Research Flagship, the China Huaneng Group and China’s Thermal Power Research Institute––funded by a $4 million Australian Government grant.

If successful, the plant will capture around 3,000 tonnes of CO2 a year––which will help Beijing in its battle against air pollution.

In addition to the positive policy signals received here from the Chinese Government on the need for cooperation to  address the challenges of climate change, I’d also like to take this opportunity to note Chinese Commerce Minister Chen’s welcome signals on environmental services given at the recent WTO services ministerial signalling conference in Geneva.

In particular I valued his reference to an improved future offer on cleaning services of exhaust gases, which includes emission monitoring and pollution control services related to the burning fossil fuels. 

This is an area where Australia’s dynamic environmental services exporters have specialised expertise. 

An offer on environmental services is good for the environment, good for services trade and good for China. And I was delighted to see China’s commitment to this important issue.

Conclusion

We’re here because both our countries take a strong interest in how we can reduce carbon pollution.

I firmly believe that working with China on clean energy can produce valuable outcomes for both countries. 

Chinais investing heavily in clean energy and leads in some important fields. 

Australia also has leading and innovative clean energy solutions - solar; hot rock, wave, clean coal, sequestration.

Austrade, our trade and investment development agency, that organised this mission, stands ready to support stronger ties between our two clean energy industries and its 15 offices across China are at your service.

Responding to the environmental imperative of climate change does come with a cost, but the economic costs of not dealing with itwill be far greater.

And in responding to climate change, we also create economic opportunities – which I believe Australia and China are well positioned to take advantage of.

I hope the Australian mission members will gain important insights into local market conditions through seminars and site visits during your stay.

Today in Beijing, they also aim to reinforce our Chinese guests’ understanding of Australian clean energy capabilities.

Working closely together, businesses, researchers and officials from both sides can find:

• new opportunities for win-win cooperation
• great possibilities for assisting China and Australia deal with climate change challenges and
• the chance to make an even greater contribution to the trade and economic relationship between our two countries.

Let me once again welcome the Chinese participants to this function and to Business Club Australia today.

And let me also wish China the very best of luck in its clean and green Olympic Games. 

Thank you.