Australia announces new, more ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gases

Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday that he had officially sent a letter to the UN announcing a major increase in the country’s greenhouse gas reduction targets, confirming the change in the country’s climate policy.

Albanezi clarified that Australia will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% (from 26 to 28% in the previous target) by 2030, as promised in its election program.

This ambitious goal “prepares Australia for a future of prosperity, a future that comes from cleaner and cheaper energy,” he said, adding that he hoped Australia would “seize the opportunity to tackle climate change.”

At the end of May, Canberra announced that it would present “very soon” more ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

At the time, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong had admitted that her country had “neglected its responsibilities” in the past, adding that Canberra would “no longer ignore” calls from Pacific nations to take action on climate change.

Under the previous Conservative government under Scott Morrison, Australia, one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and gas, reacted to commitments made by other countries during international climate conferences.

Morrison’s stance had worsened Canberra’s relations with its neighbors and allies in the Pacific, an area particularly affected by climate change.

The catastrophic fires and unprecedented floods that have hit Australia in recent years have shown how vulnerable the country is to the effects of climate change.

Albanese also sought to dispel criticism that the country’s new targets would hurt jobs, saying it would give businesses the confidence they needed “to invest in a longer period of three years of political life”.

However, he avoided setting a specific date for phasing out coal, as other countries have done.

SOURCE: AMPE