Policies and ideas to help speed up the transition to net zero emissions will be shared between state and territory governments of different political stripes, under a first-of-its-kind climate action initiative.
The ACT will join Liberal states NSW and SA as founding members of the Net Zero Emissions Policy Forum, which will be unveiled on Monday amid ongoing global climate talks at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
The new forum will allow states to share policies and resources and work together to solve practical challenges associated with cutting greenhouse gas emissions, with the hope of speeding up efforts to decarbonise their economies.
The three Australian jurisdictions will invite other states and sub-national governments from overseas to join the forum.
All states and territories have committed to net zero by 2050 or earlier, with two Liberal states - NSW and Tasmania - pledging some of the most ambitious policies in the country.
The NSW Liberal-National government have committed to halving emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, a significantly more ambitious target than the one adopted by the federal Coalition.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said state and territory governments had an important role to play in cutting emissions, given they were in control of policies for high-emitting sectors including transport, buildings and energy.
"This forum will drive a more collaborative approach to developing the policies to get to net zero emissions," Mr Barr said.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, who has publicly pushed his federal colleagues to adopt more ambitious emission reduction targets, said states and territories needed to work together to address what he described as an "economic and environmental imperative".
"Greenhouse gas emissions do not recognise borders, and to tackle climate change we need a globally collaborative approach and that is what this forum is about," he said.
NSW will chair the new group for the first 12 months.
