Australia’s new climate politics will reshape its entire economy

FILE PHOTO: An oil refinery is pictured in the southern Sydney suburb of Kurnell, July 16, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Reed

SYDNEY: Long accused of being a laggard on climate action, Australia in September passed its first binding emissions reductions target, enshrining into law a 43% cut from 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

But the bill has already been criticised for its lack of teeth, and how effective it will be at moving the country – one of the world’s largest exporters of coal – away from fossil fuels.