Australian billionaire says India's net zero target not good enough

The 2070 net zero goal set by India is not ambitious enough considering the need of the hour, Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes said today.

Brookes, the co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian, a collaboration software company, made this comment at the Australia India Leadership Dialogue, 2022, in New Delhi. The event saw the participation of more than 100 business, academic and government leaders from Australia and India.

India's 2070 net zero goal — the pledge that the country will achieve net zero carbon emissions — was set by PM Narendra Modi at the CoP-26 in November 2021.


Cannon-Brookes, however, noted that India is certainly more ambitious now compared to the past. "What we have been seeing in the last 10 years in most of the economies is that the ambition is growing. As technology costs come down, risks come down. This encouragement is a good thing," he added.

He said the fall in technology costs and risks could be seen as an encouragement for several economies as they strive to lead their people towards net zero goals.

"When we choose to take climate action, we can do it with the huge amount of technology available. We need to be aware there is a lot to gain by leaning into opportunities and ambition for both India and Australia on addressing climate change," Brookes said.

Australian tech billionaire also touched upon the relationship between his country and India. He said this relationship is significant for tech talent.

"India's tech talent is world-class, and we want to hire the smartest technical minds across the country. Since opening locally in 2018, India has become home to our fastest growing research and development site globally, and our doors are now open to talent across all of India," he said.