Labor blasts Peter Dutton’s threat to withdraw from 2030 climate targets

Labor says Peter Dutton’s decision to change a legally enshrined reduced emissions target if he wins the next federal election would damage Australia’s standing in the world.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Peter Dutton’s vow to axe Australia’s 2030 climate emissions target would be a “wrecking ball” for the country’s relationships with its key foreign partners.

The Opposition Leader has said if he wins the next federal election, he would scrap Labor’s legislated target for 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and focus on nuclear energy to reach net zero by 2050.

The decision would place Australia at odds with its legally binding targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement, where nearly 200 countries committed to their own plans to reduce planet-warming emissions.

Mr Bowen said a weakened climate emissions goal could leave the nation out of step with Pacific Island states and a significant portion of the international community.

“I’m not going to speak on behalf of Pacific leaders, but if Australia was to leave the Paris Accord I think the Pacific would have very, very strong views indeed,” he told reporters.

Coalition leader Peter Dutton told the Weekend Australian he wants to prioritise gas and nuclear power sources over renewables. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen says Mr Dutton’s announcement is diplomatically risky. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“It’s not just about the Pacific. You look at what’s happening in our region, you look at the partnerships in Australia is engaged in with United States, and climate and energy is the third pillar of our alliance. You look at what we’re doing with Germany on green hydrogen. 

“Peter Dutton would be a wrecking ball, a risky wrecking ball when it comes to our foreign policy.”

Under the Paris Agreement countries excluding Iran, Libya and Yemen vowed to limit the rise in the earth’s average global temperatures “well below” 2 degrees and make an effort to stay at 1.5 degree Celsius.

Scientists have warned that if global temperatures were to exceed that level dangers from severe floods, wildfires, drought and heatwaves could become unmanageable.

When elected in 2022, Labor leader Anthony Albanese enshrined into law an emissions cut target of 43 per cent by 2030, up from the former Coalition government’s 26-28 per cent.

Mr Dutton in an interview with the Weekend Australian on Saturday argued there was “no sense” in ­signing up to the target which he claimed was unachievable.

Global investment into clean energy needs to rise from US$1.8 trillion to $4.5 trillion each year by the early 2030s to reach targets in the Paris Agreement. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Despite current projections indicating that Australia has fallen short of the 43 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, Mr Bowen insisted it was still achievable.

He said cabinet would consider advice from the Climate Change Authority on the upcoming 2035 emissions target under the Paris agreement “in due course”.

“We’re obliged to put in our NDC by February. We’ll certainly comply with that,” he said.

The state governments of NSW, Victoria and Queensland have each already set a 2035 target of at least 70 per cent.

Speaking on Sunday, opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said the party would reveal its alternative to the federal government’s 2030 climate target in due course.

“We’re committed to the Paris Agreement and committed to net zero by 2050 and will have more to about targets well in advance of the election,” he said.

Originally published as Labor blasts Peter Dutton’s threat to withdraw from 2030 climate targets