Labor proud of ambitious climate target

Labor has set a target of a 45 percent reduction in green house gas emissions by 2030, a goal being labeled as “mad” by government frontbenchers.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a speech to Parliament on national security that his government did not intend to change Australia’s military commitment to Iraq and Syria in response to the Paris attacks as well as the recent attacks in Africa and Lebanon.

When he lost the lead role, Mr Abbott said “there will be no wrecking, no undermining, and no sniping”, and despite some policy proclamations in the past few weeks that seemed to indicate he did not entirely agree with the government’s position, that had been the case.

He will announce that Labor will use the Climate Change Authority’s recommendations for a cut of 45% by 2030, based on 2005 levels, “as the basis for our consultations with industry, employers, unions and the community”.

The summit aims to enshrine the 2030 emission reduction promises now made by 173 nations, and agree on monitoring and verification rules and regular reviews to try to increase them over time to a level that would contain global warming to 2C.

However Mr Shorten on Friday noted that Australia’s economy would still grow in real terms by 23 per cent with Labor’s target in place, adding CSIRO modelling suggested this growth estimate was conservative.

“The Abbott-Turnbull 2030 target puts Australia at the back of the global pack”. For a man who once declared he wouldn’t lead a party that wasn’t as committed to climate action as he was, it’s a sad sight.

Australian Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull defends his investments in Cayman; stating where his money is invested is now out of his control.

“Let me remind you what the cost of not acting is”.

“This is an ambitious goal – a goal recognised by the Australian Climate Round Table and internationally a goal recognised by global business leaders”.

A Labor spokesman said from 2020 onwards, the predicted increase in drought frequency is estimated to cost Australia $7.3 billion annually. “It’s just reality and we all have an obligation to act”.