Original story by AAP at The Australian
TRIPLING the nation’s short-term target for cutting CO2 emissions is a good start but environmentalists warn it won’t do enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The federal government’s climate advisory group is reportedly recommending Australia reduce its emissions by 15 per cent of 2000 levels by 2020 – three times the current bipartisan target.
Kellie Caught, WWF National Manager – Climate Change. Photo © Fiora Sacco
The report from the Climate Change Authority, leaked to some news organisations on Friday, also reportedly recommends slashing emissions by 90 per cent by 2050.
The independent authority is undertaking its first review of Australia’s emissions reduction targets, and is due to present its draft recommendations to the government in October.
The World Wide Fund for Nature said the current five per cent goal was “way out of sync” with the world’s major economies, and lifting the target would show Australia was willing to do its fair share.
“Anything less than that would imply that Australia expects other countries to do more, which is unlikely to be well received within the UN climate negotiations,” the WWF’s Kellie Caught said in a statement.
Other groups were pushing even harder.
“We’re still advocating that Australia should step up to a 40 per cent cut by 2020,” the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Tony Mohr told AAP on Friday.
Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said developed nations had a responsibility to cut emissions by between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020 and she was alarmed the authority was considering a lower target.
She urged the authority to be guided by science, not politics, when it makes its final recommendations.
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