It’s two years since we were told ‘the age of fossil fuels will end’. When will Australia get prepared for what’s coming? |
The year is winding down and for some Australians that means thinking about Christmas or the beach. For others, it will mean considering how they will cope with the next heatwave or bushfire. Already, two states have been burning.
The least bold prediction for the summer is that temperature records will tumble. It’s what happens when temperatures are on average 1.5C hotter than a little over a century ago.
If logic ruled, it might sharpen focus for the Australian political class going into 2026 on prioritising how to tackle the country’s addiction to the main driver of this change: the production of fossil fuels.
It’s been two years since the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, declared “the age of fossil fuels will end” after nearly 200 countries agreed that the world should transition away from use of coal, oil and gas. That position was reinforced at the recent Cop30 summit in Brazil, when Australia signed up to what activists described as its strongest declaration yet that countries should act rapidly on fossil fuels to try to limit global heating to roughly where it is now.
What does that mean the country should do at home? So far, on its world-leading coal and gas export industries, the message from the government is: not much different.
Change is happening in the country’s main power grid, where renewable energy contributed nearly 50% of electricity over the past week, surpassing coal-fired generation. That trajectory is increasingly clear, though the pace is uncertain and the transition faces resistance.
The response to a recent report by the Australian Energy Market Operator was a snapshot of how the climate challenge is often framed. The report warned the investment needed in system security measures to keep the power grid functional as ageing coal plants closed was not happening fast enough. It raised the possibility that the Eraring coal station, the oldest in the country, may have its........