Joint media release with Prime Minister the Hon Scott Morrison MP



Australia and the Republic of Korea will work together to drive increased adoption of low and zero emissions technologies through a new Australia-Republic of Korea Low and Zero Emissions Technology Partnership.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea (ROK) agreed the partnership during bilateral talks at the G20 summit in Rome, ahead of COP26 in Glasgow.

“Australia and ROK share a forward facing relationship that is rising to new challenges, and today I was delighted to begin a new partnership that will position both Australia and ROK to play a leadership role in the global response to climate change, a defining challenge and opportunity of our time,” the Prime Minister said.

“The Partnership recognises our shared commitment to an ambitious, technology-led approach that will achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement by ensuring we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also growing our economies and creating jobs.

“Together, we share the ambition of accelerating the development and commercialisation of low and zero emissions technologies, both existing and emerging, to achieve cost parity with high emitting technologies as soon as possible.

“The Partnership also commits us to advancing technologies and trade systems for hydrogen supply, low emissions steel and iron ore, and carbon capture, utilization and storage as early priorities.

“This commitment builds on partnerships Australia has already entered into with Indonesia, Germany, Singapore, Japan and the United Kingdom.

“This is another example of the commitments we made in our Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan delivering tangible, practical outcomes that will see technology lead the way to achieving our target of net zero emissions by 2050, while establishing Australia as a leader in low emissions technologies, and positioning our regions to prosper.”

The Republic of Korea is Australia’s fourth largest trading partner and a major buyer of Australian resources and energy, including iron ore, coal and LNG.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the Low and Zero Emissions Technology Partnership would strengthen cooperation and help Australia achieve our Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan while also accelerating global emissions reduction efforts.

“Australia and the Republic of Korea share the ambition of advancing the development and commercialisation of low and zero emissions technologies so they can achieve cost parity with high-emitting technologies as soon as possible,” Minister Taylor said.

“We will collaborate on technologies, including clean hydrogen and clean ammonia supply; low emissions iron ore and steel; hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles; hydrogen power generation; carbon capture, use and storage; energy storage; solar; and the critical minerals supply chain.”

“Getting new energy technologies to parity with higher emitting alternatives will enable substantial reductions in global emissions.”

Brokered by Dr Alan Finkel AO in his role as Special Adviser to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technology, the partnership is aligned with Australia's technology-led approach to reducing emissions and will help deliver on the goals of the Technology Investment Roadmap.

Through the partnership, the Republic of Korea will support research on hydrogen supply chains between ROK and Australian companies.

Minister Taylor said Australia will work closely on this initiative with the Republic of Korea, while also pursuing a low emissions steel and iron ore initiative that looks to reduce emissions across the supply chain.

This partnership is part of the Government’s $565.8 million commitment to build new international technology partnerships that make low emissions technologies cheaper and drive investment in Australia-based projects to create up to 2,500 jobs.