Kerry Schott, chair of the Australian government's Energy Security Board (ESB), has thrown her support behind a 2050 net zero emissions target.
The ESB published a report Tuesday on the health of Australia's national electricity market, finding that renewables drove down prices and emissions from the sector have fallen by 25 percent since 2005.
However, it found that policy differences between federal, state and territory governments were a "challenge" and the system is "no longer fit for purpose."
Schott called for unity on a national energy policy and told The Guardian on Tuesday that she "would" support a 2050 net zero emissions target.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly refused to publicly commit to a net zero emissions target despite international pressure to do so but Schott said that such a commitment was close.
"I think the federal government's under international pressure about its emissions target overall, not just the electricity sector," she said.
According to the ESB report Australia's transition from coal-fired power stations to renewable sources of energy "would be less difficult if there was an agreed national emissions reduction trajectory" among energy ministers.
It noted that every state and territory has a net zero emissions target by 2050 at the latest.
"As more and more governments intervene in the market, the efficient sharing of energy across borders using the interconnectors which are currently being planned becomes less likely. That's not a good outcome for anyone," she told News Corp Australia.
"The longer we resist fundamental market changes, the more difficult or disorderly that change becomes. It's time to calm down and simply get on with it."
Editor: Galia
