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NT targets zero emission without costings

Greg Roberts
NT Government has set a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, with solar to power the transition
NT Government has set a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, with solar to power the transition Credit: AAP

The Northern Territory Labor Government has set a new target of net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 in its Climate Change Response.

Solar electricity would power the transition away from fossil fuels, mainly natural gas.

Singapore company Sun Cable announced earlier this year it would build the world's largest solar farm outside Tennant Creek in the NT.

However the plans have not been costed or enshrined in legislation and Environment Minister Eva Lawler said it was an "aspirational" target.

The cost of doing nothing was higher, she argued, because "climate change threatens everything that makes the Territory lifestyle great".

"If we don't do anything we will see temperatures in the Territory rise, we will see the Territory become uninhabitable, people won't be wanting to live in the Territory."

It also has a target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030, compared to only four per cent now.

"Territorians that have been around a long time remember when it was always 32 degrees, it is not now and we need to make sure that we don't see temperatures in the Top End increase by more than two degrees," she told reporters.

"I believe if we don't take action now, we will be experiencing hotter temperatures and more hot fires across the Territory, we have seen mangrove bleaching, we need to do things now."

She rejected criticism that the target was unachievable, saying industries such as oil and gas, meat and livestock, insurers and others were already "starting to do work around climate".

BHP, the world's largest mining company, this week said it would increase the proportion of chief executive Andrew Mackenzie's bonus linked to reducing emissions and will next month hold an investor briefing detailing its climate-change plans.

"You know why, because their shareholders are pushing them around on that," she said.

"The cost (to Territorians) is arbitrary, it is actually a benefit to the Territory, it is new industries coming on board.

The threat of climate change was also mentioned in a new Environment Protection Bill introduced in parliament on Thursday that will toughen permit requirements around developments.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Lia Finocchiaro said while climate change was an important issue she saw zero emissions as unachievable.

"We think the government needs to stick to one aspiration at a time and start to focus its energy on things that really matter to Territorians, like cutting crime and diversifying the economy."