The world needs a “climate armistice” between the US and China if net zero emissions are to be reached while Australia should hone its efforts on a few key areas where it has an unusual competitive edge, Larry Marshall, the former CSIRO chief executive, said. Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s budget in which the Albanese government’s Future Made In Australia (FMIA) plans will probably be prominent, Marshall said the nation ought to focus any industrial support on sectors such as processing of lithium or vanadium or products that realistically scale up. Australia’s “great unfair advantage is controlling the raw materials” used in batteries, solar panels and other decarbonising products, he said. Similarly, China was unlikely to surrender its steelmaking dominance but might be open to buying iron ore made into pellets in Australia using renewable energy sources that greatly cut emissions. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup “In that way, we kind of earn our way into the global supply chain but without trying to own it all,” said Marshall, who will also be among the speakers at the Climate Action Week, starting on Monday in Sydney. While some of the...