Climate scientists have savaged Australia’s new climate targets after the government announced the new emissions reduction target of 62 to 70 per cent on 2005 levels by 2035 yesterday.
“It’s worse than I feared,” said Bill Hare, one of the founders of the non-governmental policy institute, Climate Analytics, adding that a 2035 target of 76 per cent is necessary for Australia to align with the goal of holding warming to close to 1.5 degrees.
“It’s baffling that in the same week the government could release a terrifying document warning Australians of a grim future if global warming continues … and then turn around and agree to a target that if all others followed, would lead to warming of at least 2 degrees.”
At 1.5 degrees of warming, the Great Barrier Reef would shrink and continue to be battered by coral bleaching events, according to the government’s own National Climate Risk Assessment. At 2 degrees, it is expected to die.
“No climate scientist on the planet would say this target aligns with limiting warming [to] 1.5 degrees,” said Dr Simon Bradshaw, a climate researcher with environmental activist group Greenpeace.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen was unrepentant, saying that Australia’s target must be at once ambitious and achievable.
Read more from National Environment and Climate Editor Nick O’Malley.
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