Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May has taken a swipe at Australia over the country’s performance on climate change.
Echoing recent international criticism, Ms May said she hoped Australia would do more to reduce its emissions.
The former conservative party leader is in Australia as a guest of the Victorian Liberal Party.
Speaking at a Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry lunch, Ms May said the idea that action on climate change needed to come at great cost to the economy was “absolutely wrong”.
Ms May was replaced as Prime Minister by Boris Johnson in 2019 after three years in office, having been unable to secure a deal on Brexit.
“You can do well by your economy and deal with climate. It just means you have to do business in a different way,” she said.
“Some of the innovations we’re seeing around climate change for the future, I think are hugely exciting.
“I know I’m sitting here in Australia so I’m bound to say this: I hope Australia is going to pick up this agenda of climate change rather more proactively than it has done up to now.”
Australia was one of the last OECD countries to formally commit to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Despite commixjmtzywtting billions of dollars to developing new emissions saving technologies, Australia’s reputation as a climate action laggard is proving difficult to shake.
The technology-driven plan laid out by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor aims to gradually reduce emissions while “preserving existing industries”.
Ms May acknowledged Australia faced challenges including being one of the world’s largest exporters of iron ore and coal.
“I recognise some of the issues around major elements of the Australian economy, but this really is the way of the future and for younger generations it is so important,” she said.
“If we don‘t do something about this, then sadly that future would be a rather different one than the prosperous and exciting future that we want it to be for them.”
