Australias climate policies falling short of United Nations global goals

Australia’s state and federal governments climate policies are not reducing emissions as quickly as the United Nations says it must be achieved to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

A landmark study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the sixth and most comprehensive of its kind and was compiled by 234 international scientists. It said rapid emissions reductions are required over the next decade to avoid the worst impacts of climate change that come with more than 1.5 degrees of warming.

Extinction Rebellion protest at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, following the release of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen.

Australia’s emissions reduction commitment is consistent with global action that would deliver between 2 and 3 degrees of warming, which the IPCC said was likely to cause cascading natural disasters in extreme weather such as droughts, bushfires, floods and cyclones.

The federal government has not set a deadline to reach net zero but says it will get there “preferably” by 2050 and has committed to make at least a 26 per cent cut by 2030 - based on 2005 levels.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Tuesday Australia would “meet and beat” its targets and argued “global collective action” is required to limit warming.

However, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan signalled the Coalition government would find it hard to form a consensus on a net zero. He accused the IPCC of spreading “fear porn” and said he would not support an emissions phase-out.

Australia’s trading partners including the UK, US, Japan and South Korea have upped their goals in an effort to act consistently with a goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees with net zero 2050 deadlines and emissions cuts up to 60 per cent by 2030.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has drawn heavy criticism from environmentalists for his commitment to a “gas-fired recovery” plan, launched in September last year and including a $224 million funding commitment for private industry to develop an onshore gas field in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

The federal government says it will not “tax” industry by mandating emissions reduction goals. It is banking on driving down emissions by investing in clean technology like hydrogen and green steel or aluminium.

However, it has resisted calls from the Business Council, peak employer representative Ai Group, and the agriculture sector to set a net zero deadline for 2050, while Australia’s big miners and energy companies have set their deadlines for 2050 or even earlier.

Transport is the second-largest source of Australia’s greenhouse emissions. Unlike most wealthy nations the federal government has no targets to drive uptake of electric vehicles.

Agriculture is another major source of emissions. The federal government has a voluntary system that would allow investors, typically from polluting industries that want to offset environmental impacts, to buy credits in carbon abatement and biodiversity gains earned by farmers who revegetate parts of their land.

Fire near Olympia in Greece last week. Increased risk of extreme fires is one of the expected impacts of climate change, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found.Credit:AP

Victoria is ahead of the federal government’s approach to reducing carbon emissions, with a target of halving emissions by 2030 and net zero carbon by 2050.

The biggest challenge is replacing polluting coal-fired power stations with renewable energy, and building the capacity to store it.

In Victoria, Hazelwood’s closure in 2017 was one of the largest single emissions reductions in Australian history, but three plants remain open. Yallourn will close by 2028, but Loy Yang A and B are not due to close until the late 2040s.

Considerable funding has been earmarked in Victoria for electricity grid upgrades, which means renewable power generators from all over the state will be able to plug into the grid. About 30 per cent of Victoria’s power comes from renewables.

Transport remains a major sticking point for all states and territories, Victoria included. About 20 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions come from this sector, in line with national figures.

Victoria has committed to half of its new car sales being electric vehicles by 2030, but was heavily criticised when it introduced a road user tax on EV drivers, despite a $3000 sweetener on new no-emissions cars.

NSW’s Liberal Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean called on his federal Coalition counterparts to raise Australia’s carbon emissions reduction goal by the November climate summit planned for Glasgow.

“We need to act now and that means taking ambitious targets to COP [26],” he told ABC radio on Tuesday. “The decision to make that happen needs to happen right now or we’ll be left behind.”

NSW, along with all other states and territories but not the Commonwealth, has a net zero emissions target for 2050 and a 35 per cent reduction by 2030. Mr Kean said his state “was leading the nation when it comes to decarbonisation”, citing a $500 million plan to boost electric vehicles and the nation’s largest renewable energy zones in terms of expected investment and capacity.

He conceded NSW continued to struggle to limit land clearing by farmers but stopped short of supporting any tightening of rules on what property owners can cut down. Mr Kean did not mention any restrictions on new coal mines or gas fields.

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Mike Foley is the climate and energy correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Miki Perkins is a senior journalist and Environment Reporter at The Age.

Peter Hannam writes on environment issues for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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