Australia's prime minister welcomed president-elect Joe Biden's vow to return the US to the Paris climate accord on Monday, even as he faces mounting pressure to revamp his government's climate targets.

Biden's vow to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 leaves Australia as one of the few advanced countries still lacking such a target.

The sparsely populated continent produces relatively low emissions but is one of the world's largest exporters of both coal and gas.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison -- who has soft-pedalled efforts to tackle climate change -- said Biden's promise to re-enter the Paris agreement was "welcome", adding that the "United States has always been welcome to rejoin".

On Monday, an independent lawmaker introduced a bill to parliament in Canberra that would codify the net-zero pledge -- which all of Australia's states and territories have already vowed, but the conservative government has refused to match at a federal level.

In the face of climate-worsened bushfires, floods and drought, around 90 percent of Australians say climate change is an important or critical threat to the country, according to a poll by Sydney's Lowy Institute.

Morrison, whose conservative Liberal-National coalition contains a smattering of climate sceptics, dodged the question of a 2050 target.

"Australia will always set its policies based on Australia's interests," he said, while noting that pledges from countries such as New Zealand included "qualifications", carving out exceptions for critical industries.

Ahead of the next UN climate summit in Glasgow this year, Morrison had already been under pressure over the way Australia accounts for emissions.

Critics have accused Morrison's government of using an accounting trick to meet Paris targets, by using credits gained under the Kyoto protocol.

"There will now be increased pressure on Australia to abandon its proposed use of so-called Kyoto carry-over credits," said Richie Merzian, a climate and energy expert at the Australia Institute.

Morrison has long insisted that Australia "met and beat" its emissions targets under the Kyoto global agreement and would "do the same when it comes to our Paris commitments as well".

Morrison also invited Biden to visit Australia for next year's 70th anniversary of an Australia-New Zealand-US treaty that underpins the two antipodean nations' defence.

Bank of England says to launch climate change tests
London (AFP) Nov 9, 2020 - Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said Monday that it will next year test the exposure of Britain's commercial lenders to climate change risks, under an assessment delayed by coronavirus.

Bailey, speaking at a virtual summit on green finance, also defended the British central bank's decision to try to help all virus-hit companies, including those that pollute the environment.

"When the pandemic hit, we decided to postpone the exercise in light of strain on firms' resources," he said in a speech on the opening day of the "Green Horizon Summit".

The exercise, which will take place in June, will assess "three different climate scenarios, testing different combinations of physical and transition risks over a 30-year period" for UK lenders, he said.

"We need that same ambition in our approach to climate change" as the British central bank's approach to the global financial crisis, Bailey argued.

The BoE has meanwhile faced criticism from some quarters for lending to high-polluting companies, such as airlines and chemical groups, during the Covid-19 emergency.

"These short-term interventions did not discriminate on the basis of climate change," argued Bailey on Monday.

"I believe that was the right response. In the face of such an emergency, in all conscience, it was not right to say to people that they would be denied a livelihood because their employment was of the wrong sort for the climate.

"But that does not mean that we have abandoned our commitment to tackle climate change and indeed the UK government has made a firm commitment to transitioning the economy to net zero by 2050."

In a separate development at the summit, the Financial Conduct Authority regulator confirmed it would introduce a rule next year for prominent listed firms to disclose how climate change is affecting their business.

The rule -- which will apply to major companies' reporting periods that start after January 1 -- was confirmed by FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi.

The green finance summit opened Monday on the same day that the UN's next global summit on climate change, COP 26, was initially due to start in Glasgow.

That gathering was pushed back to November 2021 due to coronavirus.

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Biden's victory a mighty relief in battle to save the planet
Paris (AFP) Nov 8, 2020
Joe Biden's victory over President Donald Trump has brought hope to climate warriors who now see a better chance to save the planet through massive projects to limit global warming. Activists and scientists feared further climate change destruction from another four years of Trump in denial in the White House. His defeat totally changes the landscape. The veteran Democrat leader has pledged to take the United States back in to the Paris climate agreement that Trump forced the country to leav ... read more