Australia announces higher emission discounts by 2035

Australia, one of the largest polluters in the world per capita, will aim to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 62% compared to the 2005 levels in the next decade.

The nation – which has been faced with world criticism for its continuous dependence on fossil fuels – had previously committed to reducing greenhouse gases by 43% by 2030.

“This is a responsible target supported by science and a practical plan to get there, based on proven technology,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when the new target was unveiled on Thursday.

A historical risk assessment commanded by the government this week warned that Australia has faced a future of increasingly extreme weather conditions due to artificial climate change.

The fixing of an objective to reduce emissions from the 2005 levels is part of the Australia’s obligation under the Paris climate agreement.

The new target complies with a reduction in emission reduction – between 62% and 70% – which was recommended by climate change authority, a government body that provides climate policy advice, said Albanese.

The Prime Minister will confirm the commitment at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month.

The 2015 Paris climate agreement saw the world leaders agreeing to keep the global temperatures of the 1.5 ° C increase above those of the end of the 19th century, which is considered crucial to prevent the most damaging impacts of climate change.

Australia, like a large part of the world, has faced an increasing number of climate -related weather conditions in recent years, including severe drought, historical bush fires and successive years of record floods.

Warm seas have also caused mass laundering in its large world renowned barrier reef in Queensland and Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

On Monday, a report on the impact of climate change – the first of its kind in the country – found that Australia had already reached warming over 1.5 ° C and that no community would be immune to climate risks “cascade, aggravating and simultaneous”.

He warned that if the government did not take stronger measures, there would be more deaths linked to heat waves, a lower water quality due to serious floods and bush fires, and sea increases that would threaten 1.5 million people. He also warned of a drop in a drop of $ 611 billion ($ 406 billion; £ 300 billion pounds sterling) due to these threats.

However, the Australia’s climate agenda and its ambition to make zero net emissions by 2050 are division political subjects.

The country’s opposition party, the national liberal coalition, discusses internally whether it should continue to support the zero emission net objective, while other parliamentarians – including many independent and green deputies – call for faster cuts.

Opposition chief Sussan Ley said on Thursday that the coalition was “dead against” the new target, saying that she had failed both “cost and credibility”.

Shortly after the Albanian Labor government was elected in 2022, he set higher climatic objectives, against the previous objective of the conservative coalition between 26% and 28%.

He sought to make Australia a “superpower of renewable energies”, but also continued to approve the projects of fossil fuels.

Last week, one of the largest gas projects in the country – North West Shelf in Woodside – was given to Greenlight to continue to operate for 40 years before 2070, in a decision largely condemned by climate experts and environmental defenders. The Australian Greens Larissa Waters qualified the “betrayal” movement through work.