Denmark, Australia’s NSW team up on 2050 net zero goal

Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state government and Denmark have signed an initial agreement to share research on strategies to transition their respective economies to net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

The agreement, announced on 16 May, will support collaboration between the governments of NSW and Denmark on innovation, policy and programme design and trade, investment and technology transfer, said NSW energy minister Matt Kean.

NSW has ambitions to be a significant producer of hydrogen from renewable sources. NSW received more than A$4bn ($3bn) in potential investment proposals in March, in response to a call for expressions of interest for a proposed hydrogen hub.

Denmark sources about half of its electricity from renewable energy and NSW earlier this year deepened its GHG emissions reduction target to 50pc by 2030 from 2005 levels compared with 35pc previously.

"New South Wales and Denmark already have ambitious policies in place to decarbonise our electricity grids but we can learn from each other's experiences and address some of our trickiest challenges together," Danish ambassador to Australia Pernille Dahler Kardel said.

By Kevin Morrison