Chris Bowen, the climate change and energy minister, has endorsed Keir Starmer’s grim assessment of the international consensus on limiting global temperature increases, insisting net zero emissions by 2050 policies represent the “bare minimum” needed to protect the globe.

The UK prime minister told world leaders on Thursday at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil that the “consensus is gone” on fighting climate change around the world, a decade after the landmark Paris agreement in 2015.

“Ten years ago, the world came together in Paris … united in our determination to tackle the climate crisis,” Starmer said. “The only question was how fast we could go. Today, however, sadly that consensus is gone.”

Starmer said green energy policies were a “win-win” for the globe and economic growth, even as US President Donald Trump retreats from global cooperation and labels climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.

Bowen, who is leading implementation of Australia’s 2035 emissions target and will travel to the summit in Belém next week, said Starmer was right.

“I think that’s fair comment. Yes, it’s a contested space, but that makes supporting action in keeping with the science more important, not less important.

“It makes continued action by governments and industry who get it – that this is a scientific and environmental imperative, but also excellent economics – even more important. And that’s certainly our approach in Australia.”

Bowen made the comments in an interview for Guardian Australia’s Australian Politics podcast released on Friday.

“There’s plenty of debate and contestation around. But one thing hasn’t changed since the Paris accord: science, which tells us that net zero by 2050 is the bare minimum necessary to keep the world as close as possible to 1.5 degrees of warming.”

Bowen said it was appropriate that he had not yet travelled to Brazil for the talks, where Australia is currently represented by assistant minister Josh Wilson. The final days of the summit are expected to see intense lobbying as Turkey and Australia fight it out to host Cop31 next year.

Australia wants to host the massive event in Adelaide, in collaboration with Pacific Island countries, but Turkey has remained in the race despite lacking support from key partners.

Under the rules, a resolution can only be achieved through consensus, risking hosting rights defaulting to the German city of Bonn, home to the UN climate organisation.

Bowen said the race to host in 2026 would be resolved “one way or another” but it would be disappointing if neither country won.

“I’d be very disappointed if that was the result … and it would be a terrible result for the Pacific, who needs a voice in these negotiations in a COP negotiation. That’s why our Pacific Island friends are so keen for Australia to [be] COP president.”

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, wrote to her Turkish counterpart this week about the hosting rights, following lobbying by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Speaking on the podcast, Bowen condemned the Liberal party as it prepares to dump support for net zero policies as soon as next week.

“It’s really sad, frankly,” he said. “As an Australian, I wish the alternate government of Australia was much more persuaded by 97% of the world’s scientists, by the economics, and we’ve had a sensible approach.”