2020-11-13
Time is ticking for the government and opposition to adopt science-based 2030 targets, with an upcoming US-led climate summit to be held before ANZAC Day next year, setting a deadline for Liberal and Labor on climate.
President-Elect Joe Biden has set the deadline, with his commitment to hold a climate summit within 100 days after he takes office, in which he will call upon major emitters to join the United States in increasing ambition. President-Elect Biden and the Prime Minister have spoken yesterday.
The government will now be under intense international pressure to increase Australia’s woefully inadequate 2030 target.
The Greens are calling on Labor to join them in putting pressure on the Morrison government to go to the Summit, likely to be held before ANZAC Day next year, with science-based targets.
Quotes attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt:
“With Donald Trump gone, Scott Morrison now has nowhere to hide.
“In the past, Australia has worked with Donald Trump to block global climate action, but with Joe Biden at the helm Australia’s 2030 targets are in the global spotlight.
“When he talks to Joe Biden on the phone and when he goes to his climate summit next year, Scott Morrison must lift his 2030 game or he will be putting Australia on the outer.
“The Greens are taking the fight up to Scott Morrison but Labor is letting the government off the hook by walking away from 2030 action.
“To meet the Paris goal of limiting global warming to well below two degrees, we need to do more over the next decade, not push action out to the middle of the century. Discussion of 2050 is all well and good but what matters is what we do now, next year and over the next ten years.” A recent analysis by eminent global climate watchdog Carbon Action Tracker states that Australia’s 2030 target needs to be raised to at least a 66% reduction on 2005 levels.
FOR BACKGROUND
Joe Biden’s Climate Plan includes this promise:
To catalyze this effort [to dramatically increase global climate ambition], Biden will, in his first 100 days in office:
- Convene a climate world summit to directly engage the leaders of the major carbon-emitting nations of the world to persuade them to join the United States in making more ambitious national pledges, above and beyond the commitments they have already made.