OECD says Australia should increase EV and renewable energy take up amid fuel crisis – as it happened

The OECD says Australia should respond to the global oil shock by accelerating our uptake of electric vehicles and renewable energy. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s chief economist, Stefano Scarpetta , recognised that governments had a variety of ways they could ease the strain of soaring fuel costs, particularly for the most vulnerable households. “But this crisis also demonstrates that the need to wean our economies off the dependency on fossil fuel imports is increasingly urgent,” he said. The Paris-based organisation, commonly referred to as the club of rich countries, pointed out that Australia among its member nations is “particularly” reliant on diesel. But in contrast to the Coalition’s call to expand oil and gas production, the OECD said: double quotation mark Australia’s vulnerability to fuel supply disruptions underlines the case for accelerating progress with electric vehicle adoption and renewables generation, with improved grid links and increased storage capacity. The OECD also backed doing more to encourage the supply of new homes in well-located areas. The report said: double quotation mark Other needed policies, such as easing restrictive land-use regulation, especially in urban areas, could also help to curb fuel consumption and improve energy security, while at the same time boosting productivity growth and addressing affordability challenges. The OECD predicted higher inflation and “slightly” slower economic growth for Australia in this year and the next as a result of “the evolving Middle East conflict”.