The Nationals\u2019 grassroots members have voted to ditch net zero, setting the scene to formally scrap the target at a meeting on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in reducing emissions, but not at any cost,\u201d the Nationals leader, David Littleproud<\/a>, told the party\u2019s federal council on Saturday.<\/p>\n A motion at the meeting for the party to \u201cabandon its support for a net zero mandate\u201d was passed.<\/p>\n The junior Coalition<\/a> partner is likely to find a \u201ccompromise\u201d position on climate change.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n A bitter brawl has erupted between the Liberal and National parties \u2013 and conservative and moderate factions \u2013 about whether to keep the net zero target, prompting speculation the Coalition could split.<\/p>\n Barnaby Joyce has left the Nationals partyroom<\/a> over the issue \u2013 he is still a member of the party, Littleproud confirmed on Saturday, and was welcome to return to the partyroom.<\/p>\n Littleproud has called a partyroom meeting for 9am Sunday to finalise the party\u2019s net zero position.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not walking away from reducing emissions, but we can do it a better, fairer, cheaper way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can align ourselves with the world as the world pivots from an arbitrary target to using common sense, making sure that they don\u2019t destroy their economies.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he \u201cpassionately\u201d believes in nuclear energy.<\/p>\n Littleproud said while the grassroots position would inform the parliamentary position, \u201cno one should take for granted\u201d what the partyroom would do.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the next phase in the process,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there\u2019s a better way, then we should explore it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said adaptation could play a role alongside mitigation and said that claims this meant the Nationals do not believe in climate change would be \u201cpuerile\u201d.<\/p>\n He said he and the Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, would work through a process and that the parties still had \u201ca lot of similarities\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will respect the time that it will take for the Liberal party to get to a position and then we\u2019ll form a committee to be able to work through where our similarities [lie] and if there are any differences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The deputy leader, Kevin Hogan, said there was a majority view in the room that climate change was real, emissions had to be reduced and that affordability and reliability had to be taken into account.<\/p>\n Senator Bridget McKenzie described the goals as \u201caggressive targets\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always said that net zero was never going to be net zero cost,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She also said the Nationals and the Liberal parties had huge differences, which is why they are separate parties.<\/p>\n Asked about the Coalition potentially splitting, she said the last time they split was not the first and \u201cprobably wouldn\u2019t be the last\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Littleproud was asked about concerns from a South Australian youth delegation that the move would see votes lost to Labor in regional Australia.<\/p>\n He said he had seen the effects of floods himself, but that \u201cwe can\u2019t do it all ourselves\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cNet zero is not the only way to actually address climate change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Liberal party is still considering its final position.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to accept the government\u2019s net zero at any cost,\u201d Ley said on Friday.<\/p>\n In Paris in 2015<\/a>, more than 190 countries \u2013 including Australia \u2013 signed an agreement to keep global heating \u201cwell below 2C\u201d and to try to limit warming to 1.5C in an effort to tackle the climate change that is already having devastating effects<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Coalition, under former prime minister Scott Morrison, committed to supporting net zero in 2021.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s 2030 target is to cut its emissions by 47% from 2005 levels; by 62% to 70% by 2035; and to reach net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n