The Coalition’s retreat from net zero by 2050 reveals two things: a complete failure to grasp the economics of climate action, and a disregard for what women actually want — stronger action on climate change.
The economics are clear: failure to limit warming to 1.5°C by 2050 will incur dramatic economic costs (not to mention the environmental and human impacts). It’s women and vulnerable communities who feel the economic impacts first.
The economic story they aren’t telling
There is a huge economic opportunity in Australia’s transition to net zero, and economic consequences of failing to transition.
In September 2025, Treasury released modelling on Australia’s renewable transition. A well-planned, orderly transition grows the economy, lifts living standards, stabilises energy prices, and supports communities reliant on fossil fuel industries. Under an orderly transition, the economy is projected to be 81% larger by 2050 — that’s $2.2 trillion in real terms, with each Australian $36,000 better off.
That’s real money: wages, household budgets, super, services and jobs.
Compare that to a delayed or ‘messy’ transition: GDP could be 9 per cent lower by 2050. Which means super returns could fall by up to 38 per cent – a devastating blow to retirement savings. Particularly for women who already retired with far less than men.
Treasury found the economy could maintain growth of around 2.7 per cent a year while cutting emissions responsibly – and that doing nothing would cost far more down the track.
This is the economic story the Coalition are failing to tell.
Instead they are focused on short-term scare tactics. Sound bites about ‘affordable energy’ and ‘cost-of-living relief’ without explaining how abandoning net zero will achieve either. There’s absolutely no evidence that delaying the transition lowers energy prices. In fact, global investment systems, supply chains and grid planning all rely on long-term certainty. And with coal plants retiring and becoming costlier each year, propping them up makes zero economic sense when renewables are already the lowest-cost power available.
And policy backflips like this do the opposite of what’s promised: they create volatility, supress investment and ultimately push power bills higher.
And these aren’t just abstract economic projections. The human cost of delay falls disproportionately on women.
Women feel the economic shifts first
Women — especially single mothers and or part-time workers — are often hit first by rising energy bills and housing stress.
If the transition is delayed and disorderly, electricity prices will rise, GDP will decrease and the whole economy will be impacted. Women will feel that burden.
Climate impacts are gendered. Heatwaves, flooding, smoke and housing insecurity disproportionately affect women’s physical and mental health. Women also shoulder most of the unpaid care when disaster strikes — looking after elderly parents, sick children, displaced families.
Australia needs up to 200,000 additional workers by 2033 in the clean-energy transition — and while women currently account for just 39 per cent of the clean energy workforce, this presents a huge opportunity for economic security and wage growth.
By contrast, stepping back on climate ambition shrinks pathways for economic security, thereby hitting women’s employment opportunities.
Furthermore, delayed action erodes superannuation, with returns falling by up to 38 per cent in a high-warming world. Women already retire with 25-30 per cent less super than men — a gender wealth gap that climate inaction will make catastrophic.
The Coalition is still failing to address issues that matter to women
What’s most jarring about the Coalition’s net zero backflip is the absence of any credible alternative or explanation of how energy will be cheaper or the economy stronger. Just vague promises that stepping back will ease cost pressures with zero evidence.
The lack of leadership is disappointing. It’s an evasion of responsibility precisely at the moment Australians – especially women – want clarity, stability and ambition on climate.
Net zero isn’t a culture-war issue. It’s a cost-of-living issue. A job issue. An economic growth issue. And a gender equity issue.
If the Coalition want to win back women’s trust, they need to stop playing culture-war games with net zero and start treating it as the economic reality it is. Because the cost of delay is enormous, and women are already paying it.
Feature image: Coalition leader Sussan Ley.