Albanese unlikely to announce new climate targets until after federal election

Lima: Australians will be asked to wait beyond the federal election to learn the government’s next goal in tackling climate change, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holding off a big decision on his target to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Albanese is telling regional leaders that he wants strong action to address climate change and is on track to slash emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, but he has hedged on whether he will announce an updated target before voters go to the ballot box next year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the APEC summit in Lima.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a major new commitment last week, saying his government would cut emissions by 81 per cent by 2035, Albanese has made no move to increase the Australian target in response.

Albanese declared that “2030 comes before 2035” and he would deliver on the earlier target.

The comments came after regional leaders spoke of the need for action on climate change during the opening session of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru, where Albanese is joining 21 fellow leaders and plans to speak about Australia’s commitment to renewable energy.

Asked about the British target during a press conference in Lima, Albanese would not say if he would respond by increasing the Australian target.

“I note that Keir Starmer has just been elected, and he’s come up with a new target. When we just got elected, we came up with a new target, and that’s 43 per cent by 2030,” he said.

Asked whether he would commit to a 2035 target before the election, he said: “We commit to delivering our 2030 target.”

When it was put to him that Australia was expected to set its 2035 plan next year, he again emphasised the earlier target.

“We’re committing to our 2030 target. It’s legislated. 2030 comes before 2035, and we’re very focused on delivering, and we’re on track to delivering that target,” he said.

The government will not set its 2035 target until it receives final advice later this year from the Climate Change Authority, now chaired by former NSW Liberal treasurer Matt Kean. The authority has previously given draft advice saying Australia should cut emissions by 65 to 75 per cent by 2035. Like the existing target, this uses 2005 as the base year.

But with President-elect Donald Trump pledging to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, scrapping any obligation to cut emissions, the Albanese government is leaving room to adjust its ambitions.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said last week that he wanted to see how China responded to the US decisions.

“China will be putting forward a 2035 target at some time in the next few months. They are the world’s largest emitter, with a bit more than a third of emissions,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program.

Negotiators from 80 countries are attending a United Nations climate change summit that is due to end this Friday in Azerbaijan, but the Baku summit meeting is focused on climate finance rather than the 2035 targets.

While Australia could reveal the 2035 targets early next year, it could delay its commitment until the next UN climate summit, which is scheduled for November 2025 in the Brazilian city of Belem. This would delay a commitment until after the election, which is due by May.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to commit to the 2030 target, even though it is already in force under legislation, and declared in June he was “not going to send the economy into freefall” by going too far to reduce emissions.

Greens leader Adam Bandt and his party have set a target of net zero emissions by 2035, a goal that would require a mammoth shift to renewables at a faster rate than the government believes possible, given it is aiming for net zero emissions by 2050.

Bowen joined other cabinet ministers on Saturday to commit $125 million towards renewable energy in a program that seeks to help Pacific nations.

The announcement, timed for the Baku climate summit and made with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and International Development Minister Pat Conroy, redeploys funds previously set aside for a carbon offset scheme in the Indo-Pacific.

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