2021-05-02
The Victorian Labor Government's emissions reduction targets mean two degrees or more of catastrophic global warming.
The government must go further and faster.
Scientists have said that for Victoria to contribute its fair share in keeping the world below a 1.5-degree temperature rise, we had to set ambitious emission reduction targets of 50 per cent by 2025 and 80 per cent by 2030.
Victorian Labor today announced targets much lower than this of (28 - 33% by 2025 and 45 - 50% by 2030).
If every jurisdiction in the world did the same as Victoria has done, we’d lock in more than 2 or 3 degrees of global heating, causing more catastrophic bushfires, extreme weather, floods and the loss of countless Victorian lives and ecosystems.
Victorian Labor’s announcement today also keeps Victoria burning coal for over ten more years, opens up gas drilling across Victoria’s land and oceans, and allows half of Victoria’s cars to still be petrol and diesel cars in ten years’ time.
Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell, said that Victorians wanted the Labor Government to do the right thing and prevent more extreme weather, bushfires and drought, but they’ve unfortunately not taken the bold step they needed to.
She added that given Victoria still gets 70 per cent of its energy from three old, unreliable coal plants, the government urgently needed to up the ante when it came to transitioning Victoria away from coal.
The ACT is already at 100 per cent renewable energy and the NSW Government is about to build three times more renewables than Victoria.
Quotes attributable to Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell MP:
“These targets set by Labor are very low, and are unfortunately not Victoria’s fair share of taking real action on global warming.
"We’ve been pleased with some of the progress Victoria has achieved over the past few years, but unfortunately, these targets and policies announced by Labor today lock us in to more catastrophic fires and extreme weather. Scientists tell us we must go much further and faster than these targets set by the Labor government.
“Labor’s plan still includes burning coal for the next ten years, putting a tax on electric cars, and opening up huge swathes of Victoria’s land and oceans for gas drilling. These Labor policies are simply incompatible with dealing with climate change.
“We need Labor to be much bolder when it comes to climate change, that's not just what the Greens say, but it’s what scientists and experts are saying.
“A lot of Victorians are very worried about climate change. Setting such low targets says that Labor isn’t very worried about climate change, and that’s very concerning to me.”