Climate activists should shift their focus away from advocating for the closure of coal-fired power stations and encouraging Australians to stop driving petrol cars in order to maintain global competitiveness during the transition to green energy, The Australian reported, quoting Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM) billionaire co-founder and co-chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes.
While this message might appear contradictory to his earlier remarks on combating climate change, Cannon-Brookes' stance remains consistent.
Instead, he is aiming to expedite the transition to clean energy by emphasising action over debate.
More work, less talk
To this end, he has invested in the job classified site https://Terra.do through his climate fund, Boundless Earth, aimed at facilitating the transition of 100,000 Australian workers into clean energy careers by 2027.
Cannon-Brookes believes that the most effective approach to phase out environmentally harmful practices is to create innovative solutions that replace them.
This involves less emphasis on shutting down coal power plants and reducing petrol car usage and more focus on developing solar farms, batteries and setting standards that promote and incentivise electric vehicles.
“At this point in history – we no longer need to talk as much about stopping things because the economy has done that for us,” Cannon-Brookes said at the Careers for Net Zero Fair in Melbourne.
“Fossil fuels are unreliable and expensive compared to renewables when it comes to energy generation.
“We’ll see this filter through industry after industry. We will electrify everything.”
Make a difference
Australia has set ambitious targets for renewable energy production, aiming for 82% of the country's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030, aligning with a legislated goal of reducing emissions by 43% by the end of the decade.
Cannon-Brookes believes that individual Australians can make a substantial difference, saying 100,000 clean energy roles need to be filled in the next four years to ensure Australia takes advantage of the “tsunami of clean energy roles that is coming”.
This, he believes, can lead to a snowball effect, creating more jobs and eventually, up to two million clean economy jobs in Australia by 2050.
He cites the International Energy Agency's projection that in a 1.5 degree aligned scenario, nearly 13 million jobs in fossil fuel-related industries will be lost, while 30 million new clean energy jobs will be created by 2030.
“To rephrase that simply, more than two clean energy jobs will be created for every fossil fuel-related job lost.
“That’s a two for one deal. And the faster Australia executes this shift, the more chance we have of re-skilling those fossil fuel jobs to actively contribute to the tsunami of clean energy jobs that is coming.
“And the higher the chance that those new jobs are in Australia – which is where, I’m sure, is where we’d all like them to be.”
Not all are climate experts
Cannon-Brookes said Australians should also not feel daunted about seeking out clean energy jobs.
“Do what you do now, but do it in climate.
“You don’t need to be an expert … too often I see super passionate people holding themselves back because they think they don’t have the skills they need to meaningfully contribute.
“Australia is at near full employment, so where you choose to work determines where the economy goes.”