Melbourne, June 16 (BNA): Australia, under a new Labor government, on Thursday raised its 2030 target for cutting carbon emissions, bringing the country more in line with Paris climate commitments to other advanced economies.
Australia, one of the world’s highest per capita carbon emitters, has pledged to the United Nations that it will cut carbon emissions 43% from 2005 levels by 2030, up from the previous Conservative government’s target of between 26% and 28%, according to Reuters.
“When I spoke with international leaders in the past few weeks, they all welcomed Australia’s change of position,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after notifying the United Nations.
Under the previous government, Australia, the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, had long been seen as falling behind on climate commitments, with no clear energy and climate policy to encourage renewable energy investment.
At the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow last year, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison was criticized for failing to set a more ambitious target for emissions cuts while the United States, Canada, the European Union, Britain and Japan aggressively reinforced their pledges.
Canada aims to cut 40% by 2030 from 2005 levels, while the United States has a target of 52%.
“For years, the Australian government has said to the world that it’s very difficult,” Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told reporters at a televised news conference in Canberra.
“We are sending a message to the rest of the world, to our friends and allies, that we are partners in tackling the climate emergency. We are sending a message to Australians that we are striving to end the climate wars, the Prime Minister said, and Bowen added.
The push to cut emissions more quickly comes as the country faces a major energy crisis caused by planned and unplanned outages of coal-fired generators, which have boosted demand for gas-fired power generation at a time when global gas prices have skyrocketed.
Bowen said the crisis highlighted the need to speed up, not slow down, work on regulations needed to encourage more investment in renewable energy.
MI