(Bloomberg) -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is pitching for global investment into his nation’s green energy and technology sectors ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
There are “potential benefits” from a second Trump administration around climate policy “given Australia’s position in the world and the resources that we have,” Albanese told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru.
“The Inflation Reduction Act, for example, has seen considerable capital flow to the US. If those incentives aren’t there, then that has implications,” he said, adding he wasn’t pre-empting decisions by the incoming president. “Australia has great opportunity through climate action. We see that it’s important for our environment, but I also see it as about economic opportunity.”
The center-left Labor government has been working to develop Australia’s green energy resources and industry since coming to power in May 2022. Albanese has pledged to make the country a renewable energy superpower as he tries to smooth a significant transition away from major fossil fuel industries like coal.
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New investment in renewable energy in Australia was $4.6 billion in the first half, more than a quarter higher than the same period a year earlier, BloombergNEF said in an August report. Investment in the US in the first six months was $38.5 billion.
The Labor government has legislated its first emission reductions targets and poured money into wind and solar power projects. It has also sought to stimulate green manufacturing through the Future Made in Australia plan, which provides support for critical mineral processing and high-tech manufacturing.
Albanese’s policies are a smaller version of those pursued by the current US administration, which used the Inflation Reduction Act to attract capital and fuel green manufacturing and climate emissions reductions. However, it is widely expected that Trump won’t maintain this focus on climate action after January.
Albanese will use a speech to the APEC Summit on Friday to promote his nation’s green business credentials ahead of Trump’s return to office, the Australian Financial Review reported.
“Australia is taking advantage of our natural resources and our position in the fastest growing region of the world to power a new generation of prosperity,” the newspaper cited him as saying.
--With assistance from David Stringer.
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