The Nationals grassroots members have voted to ditch net zero, setting the scene to formally scrap the target at a meeting on Sunday morning.

“We believe in reducing emissions, but not at any cost,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told the Nationals federal council on Saturday.

A motion at the meeting for the party to “abandon its support for a net zero mandate” was passed.

The junior Coalition partner is likely to find a “compromise” position on climate change.

A bitter brawl has erupted between the Liberal and National parties – and conservative and moderate factions – about whether to keep the net zero target, prompting speculation the Coalition could split.

Barnaby Joyce has left the Nationals partyroom over the issue – he is still a member of the party, Littleproud confirmed on Saturday, and was welcome to return to the partyroom.

Littleproud has called a partyroom meeting for 9am Sunday to finalise the party’s net zero position.

“We’re not walking away from reducing emissions, but we can do it a better, fairer, cheaper way,” he said.

“We can align ourselves with the world as the world pivots from an arbitrary target to using common sense, making sure that they don’t destroy their economies.”

He also said he “passionately” believes in nuclear energy.

Littleproud said while the grassroots position will inform the parliamentary position, “no one should take for granted” what the partyroom will do.

“This is the next phase in the process,” he said.

“If there’s a better way then we should explore it.”

He mentioned that adaptation could play a role alongside mitigation, and said that claims this means the Nationals don’t believe in climate change would be “puerile”.

He said he and Liberal leader Sussan Ley would work through a process, and that the parties still had “a lot of similarities”.

“We will respect the time that it will take for the Liberal Party to get to a position, and then we’ll form a committee to be able to work through where our similarities [lie] and if there are any differences,” he said.

Deputy leader Kevin Hogan said there was a majority view in the room that climate change was real, emissions had to be reduced, and that affordability and reliability had to be taken into account.

Senator Bridget McKenzie described the goals as “aggressive targets”.

“We’ve always said that net zero was never going to be net zero cost,” she said.

She also said the Nationals and the Liberal parties had huge differences, which is why they are separate parties.

Asked about the Coalition potentially splitting, she said the last time they split wasn’t the first and “probably wouldn’t be the last”.

Littleproud was asked about concerns from a South Australian youth delegation that the move would see votes lost to Labor in regional Australia.

He said he had seen the impacts of floods himself, but that “we can’t do it all ourselves”.

“Net zero is not the only way to actually address climate change,” he said.

The Liberal party is still considering its final position.

“We’re not going to accept the government’s net zero at any cost,” Ley said on Friday.

In Paris in 2015, more than 190 countries – including Australia – signed an agreement to keep global heating “well below 2C” and to try to limit warming to 1.5C in an effort to tackle the climate change that is already having devastating effects.

The Coalition, under former prime minister Scott Morrison, committed to supporting net zero in 2021.

Australia’s 2030 target is to cut its emissions by 47% from 2005 levels; by 62% to 70% by 2035; and to reach net zero by 2050.

Last week, Coalition MPs were told by conservative thinktank Centre for Independent Studies that “heat deaths aren’t a thing”.

Heat-related deaths have already increased, and will continue to increase.

They were also told that 32% of voters wanted to keep net zero, 52% wanted the target “changed to more flexible, realistic, and achievable goals” and 16% want it “scrapped entirely”.

According to the latest Essential poll, 44% of Australians want net zero, 27% are opposed, and 29% are neither for or against the target.

The poll found 49% of Coalition supporters want the opposition to adopt more progressive positions, with 23% in favour of the current positions and 29% wanting more conservative policies.