"I'm a blue-green,a green-blue,whatever,to me,they go naturally together. If you believe in conserving the best in life that has to include the natural world,which is endangered,"he said.

"If you leave this argument to the left,their solutions will be very socialistic about high taxation,about regulation,"he said.

Hague said these would not work because you could not"command people to be poorer."

He said,in contrast,the centre-right should be supporting technology and innovation. He explicitly backed carbon-pricing,which has a no-go policy for both Australia's major parties since Julia Gillard's failed carbon tax.

"That's what we're trying to do in the UK and so it's really important for politicians of the centre-right to be presenting their ideas on the subject that's coming anyway."

Hague haspreviously warned of a citizen uprising if politicians fail to address the community's demands for climate action.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison,who famously carried a lump of coal into the parliament to taunt his Labor opponents,is resisting pressure to adopt the target announced by the Labor opposition last week,saying it is the"same bill"Australia couldn't afford at the last election when the Opposition proposed cutting emissions by 45 per cent by 2030. The"bill"comment was a reference to the Liberals'campaign slogan targeting then-Labor leader Bill Shorten.

Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals Leader Michael McCormack went further,saying the net-zero pledge would"ruin the resources sector".

"It's a tax on farms,it's a tax on transport,it's a tax on the check-out and it's a tax on Australians trying to work hard and make ends meet,"he said.

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull failed in hiscontinued campaign against climate sceptics and advocates of inaction in his former partyroom.

They also align with many in the business sector and state governments who have all pledged net-zero emissions by 2050. In recent weeks,resources companies BP and Rio Tinto have also individually pledged to be carbon neutral by the middle of the century.