A Business Council of Australia report found significant progress on building energy infrastructure was required for the nation to halve its emissions in the next decade.
Its findings were released just a month before the federal government must reveal its 2035 emissions target.
The report provides government with clarity on the steps it must take to achieve its possible goals, according to the council's chief executive Bran Black.
"Ambitious but achievable targets with the right policies to deliver them are key to Australia's long-term competitiveness and prosperity," he said.
The report sets out multiple reforms and policy interventions required for targets ranging from a 50 to 70 per cent cut.
United Nations executive secretary Simon Stiell has urged Australia to do more and cut emissions by 60 per cent by 2035, following a meeting with Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen.
A step-up to a 60 per cent cut by 2035 would require an additional 59,000 workers by 2030 in electrical trades and engineering, the report said.
The findings also stated that reducing emissions would require capital investment of at least $210 billion, depending on the target level.
Mr Black labelled Australia's "long-beleaguered" approvals system a massive handbrake on a transition to renewable energy, including the Howard-era environment protection and biodiversity conservation rules.
"We urgently need that addressed to deliver more renewable energy projects," he said.
The business leader was part of the widespread push to simplify regulations for housing and environmental approvals at the government's major economic reform roundtable.
Unions, employer groups and environmentalists also used the summit to call for a new act to replace the environmental rules, providing faster decisions for projects from mining to housing.
Debate about the Labor government's emissions targets continues as the federal coalition's commitment to net zero wavers, with some members of the opposition pushing to ditch the overarching 2050 goal entirely.Â
The council supports net zero by 2050, and said while the bulk of 2035 reductions come from electricity and energy, all sectors must play their role.
Signatories of the Paris Agreement must provide updated contributions to world temperature goals every five years.
Australia and several other states are yet to produce their updated targets ahead of the next climate talks in Brazil in November, and late September has been flagged as a hard deadline.
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