2021-04-15
The release of a new report shows only the Greens have a climate policy in line with the science.
The Climate Council report, Aim High, Go Fast, which drew from new data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies the need for 75% emissions reduction from Australia by 2030 - in line with the Greens policy but 3 times the Coalition’s current target (26-28%). Meanwhile the Labor party has no articulated 2030 target at all.
The Greens announced updated targets in June 2020 which match the ambition outlined in the new report.
Today the Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, called on the government and opposition to accept science-based targets of 75% by 2030 and net zero by 2035 ahead of the Climate Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden.
“The reality is stark and should be a call to drastic action for anyone who acknowledges the science,” Greens Leader Adam Bandt said.
“A tripling of our target is the only way to have any chance of keeping within our carbon budget.
“There is nowhere for the Liberals and Labor to hide. To have any credibility on climate they need to adopt these targets and rapidly transition out of gas and coal.
“For politicians that want to be honest with coal communities and the Australian public at large, this report reiterates what that honesty looks like. If you don’t have a plan to get out of gas and coal, your climate plan is a sham.
“The repeal of the successful Greens-Labor price on carbon has proven to be an act of economic and environmental sabotage. If we had continued on that trajectory we would be marching into these global summits as players in the new green economy, but instead we’re a target of ridicule and potential sanctions.
“The good news is that the rest of the world are lifting their ambition, but that makes the Australian government’s position a diplomatic as well as a climate risk,” Bandt said.