2021-10-21
As the Glasgow climate summit looms and the government’s woeful 2030 targets come under the spotlight, Greens Leader, Adam Bandt MP, has said so-called ‘moderate Liberals’ are having an internal debate about whether to go over the climate cliff head first or feet first, advocating 2030 and 2035 targets that are out of step with the science and won’t fix the government’s problems with the US, UK and other countries.
The advocated 2030/35 targets are substantially less than those determined by the independent Climate Targets Panel, led by former Liberal Leader John Hewson, which found Australia needed targets of 74% emissions reductions by 2030 and 100% by 2035 to meet the Paris Agreement 1.5 degree goal, and targets of 50% by 2030, 67% by 2035 and net zero by 2045 to be consistent with 2 degrees.
Quotes attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt:
“So-called moderate Liberals are looking down the barrel of losing their own seats because people are sick of politicians fighting for failure and backing coal and gas.
“These Liberals know they cannot take Scott Morrison’s climate denial to the next election, or to Glasgow, and expect to be taken seriously. But if these Liberals want to keep people safe rather than just their seats, it’s time to act with a bit of courage rather than just tossing in ideas that are frankly a waste of everyone’s time.
“Moderate Liberals are concerned with the safety of their own seats in parliament, not the Great Barrier Reef, not our industry, not jobs.
“If you want to be taken seriously, adopt the targets we need to stay safe, not that you think you need to be re-elected.
“The Liberals are having an internal debate about whether to go over the cliff head first or feet first, arguing about how much to fail the Paris Agreement by.
“Fronting up to Glasgow with even these suggested targets won’t fix the government’s climate diplomacy problem.
“As former Liberal leader John Hewson and his Climate Targets Panel have made clear, anything less than a 74% cut by 2030 means giving up on the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees, and the rest of the world knows this too.
“The Greens are the only party with targets that will keep people safe. Our targets are consistent with the Paris Agreement. They are consistent with the US, the UK and the EU.”