Government to reveal 20235 emissions target but may not legislate it

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Later this month the government will release its 2035 target for cutting carbon emissions. But in an interview with the ABC, the Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen says that target may not be written into law, and he will have to assess whether there is a pathway to achieve it after it's announced.

Transcript

00:00The government has to submit this 2035 target this month to the United Nations and it has

00:08to be a lift in Australia's ambition to cut emissions.

00:12The current target submitted to that UN body is for a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030,

00:22already a tough target for the government to reach.

00:25Most recent figures suggest that it's operating at about half the pace that will be needed

00:30to hit that 2030 goal.

00:34So already a tricky position to be starting from for government.

00:39We know that the Climate Change Authority, which provides advice to government on that

00:44next 2035 target, has been looking at a band of between 65 to 75% in reductions.

00:51To give a sense of context, the Climate Change Authority says that a target of about 75%

00:57is needed to be consistent with keeping global warming to about 1.5 degrees Celsius.

01:03We don't know yet where the government is going to land on that, although Climate Change Minister

01:09Chris Bowen said that there are other factors at play, including international uncertainty.

01:15US President Donald Trump has come into power since the CCA began consulting on that picture.

01:23The Climate Change Minister, though, said that unlike 2030, it might not be legislated because

01:29the picture has changed here in Australia too.

01:31It's a government that the world is now more familiar with and while legislating a target

01:36would provide business certainty.

01:38He said he would have to wait and see until after it was announced whether there was a political

01:43pathway that could feasibly see it put into law.

01:47We made the point last time that it does provide greater certainty.

01:50It lets the people, in that context, let the world know that the government had changed but

01:54the parliament had also changed and that was very important in that context of coming in

01:58so soon after that decade of denial and delay.

02:01I think that's much better understood around the world at the moment.

02:04The target is already coming later than the government had originally anticipated and in part

02:09that was because of Donald Trump's election, the Climate Change Authority asked for more

02:14time to consider the changed circumstances with him and with the global picture more broadly.

02:21The government is likely to have international factors influence its timing again.

02:26The Pacific Islands Forum is due to be held early this month and the United Nations General Assembly

02:32is due at the end of the month and so a mid-month, mid-September date for announcing this target is likely.

02:40We also know that the government is due to release its major climate risk report.

02:45It's the first of its kind before that target is announced.

02:49Chris Bowen said it would be sober reading and a stark reminder of the cost of failing to act on climate change.

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