Australia unveils emissions reduction target ahead of Paris talks

“However this target means Australia is at least on the boat with worldwide climate action, even if considered a laggard”, he said. Several nations and climate activist have urged Australia to join the fight in reducing the adverse effects of climate change.

Australia is one of the world’s worst greenhouse gas emitters per head of population because of its heavy reliance on abundant reserves of cheap coal to generate power.

In a statement, minister of foreign affairs Tony de Brum said “the Great Barrier Reef would disappear…so would the Marshall Islands and other vulnerable atoll nations”.

“The government’s assumption that setting a globally responsible, stronger target will damage the Australian economy is deeply flawed”. But he dismissed any possibility of carbon pricing and declared that any measures the government takes must not hurt the economy. “That’s why the government will never resort to harmful policies like a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme”. Those targets will form the core of a new global agreement that will be signed in Paris in December.

But for now, it’s the fine print of the policy on how to achieve targets that are obscured by the general enthusiasm for taking action.

Climate change sceptic and West Australian Liberal MP Dennis Jensen immediately condemned the base target as “too high” and said no target was needed.

Among the global community, the target is likely to be perceived as falling short in its ambition relative to Australia’s opportunities to cut emissions deeply. “What Australia does matters”.

In per capita terms, Australia’s emissions are the highest among all major countries, and this would continue under the announced target.

“We’ll be closely watching what their rate of decarbonization will be after 2020, especially whether they keep pace with the U.S. and European Union It will be extremely disappointing if Australia’s contribution is clearly behind that pace”, he said.

Abbott was defensive of the target, which received firm backlash from environmental groups and opposition politicians, saying it was “fairly and squarely in the middle of comparable economies”.

On Tuesday, Abbott highlighted that he expected the emission percentage to be below the 2005 level by the end of 2030.

They are the ones who will shoulder the burden of climate change, which we dumped on them out of laziness, ideology and sheer partisan bloody-mindedness. On the other hand, Caught also said she has detected a “slight shift in attitude” this year with the delegation instructed to support a deal.

“Today, the government must to demonstrate how their targets are consistent with its commitment to the 2 degree warming scenario”, he said. So, in this zero-sum game, the question then becomes should Australia give up some of its future emissions so that those poorer countries with lower historical emissions can benefit from some of this economic growth?

The target announced by the Australian government Tuesday is below that of most other advanced economies. A full 71 percent agreed with the statement that “it is inevitable that Australia’s coal-fired generation will need to be replaced”, while 5 percent disagreed.

The deputy leader of the Australian Greens, Sen.

He added that Pacific countries were looking up to their “big brother” Australia to take on a leading role but were disappointed to hear an announcement that signalled “business as usual” and “confirmed our worst fears”.