‘World has to act as well’: PM suggests Australia not doing too much

Unveiling the government’s 2035 emissions reduction target on Thursday, the PM appeared to cast aside a suggestion Australia was doing too much on emissions reduction while the rest of the world was lagging behind.

The Bayswater coal-powered thermal power station located near the NSW town of Muswellbrook. Picture: AFP

Anthony Albanese says the “world has to act as well” on a co-ordinated push to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and that Australia will “do our part” in that broader global transformation.

Unveiling the government’s 2035 emissions reduction target on Thursday, the Prime Minister appeared to cast aside a suggestion Australia was doing too much on emissions reduction while the rest of the world was lagging behind.

“I make this point about international comparisons as well because we will hear from the Coalition, the sceptics, they will say the rest of the world is not acting so Australia should not do anything,” Mr Albanese said.

“The amount of wind and solar and power in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined. Just a fun fact.

“We are part of what is a global transformation that is occurring and will need to do our part, but of course we know that the world has to act as well.”

Of the 40 or so countries that have announced their 2035 target, Australia’s is at the higher end.

The Coalition acknowledged climate change was a “global problem” but stressed “Australia cannot make a difference on its own”.

“We must play our part,” Sussan Ley and deputy leader Ted O’Brien said in a statement. “The Coalition will always support sensible action to reduce emissions.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud, in response to the Labor announcement, noted China was building on average nearly two coal-fired power stations a week and said Labor was costing Australians too much for its “reckless, all-renewables approach”.

Australia’s newly announced 62 to 70 per cent target puts it at the higher end of the pack among countries that have so far announced new climate targets for 2035.

The UK wants to cut emissions by 81 per cent compared to 1990. Norway has said it would cut emissions by at least 70-75 per cent compared to 1990.

Japan has set a target of 60 per cent from 2013 levels, Switzerland at 65 per cent below 1990 levels, Canada at 45-50 per cent below 2005, and New Zealand at 51-55 per cent below 2005.

Signatories to the Paris climate agreement are required to report targets – or “nationally determined contributions” – every five years. The agreement asks parties to set targets that reflect the nation’s “highest possible ambition” and calls on countries to ramp up their ambitions to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5C.

The treaty envisions a higher burden for emissions reduction on developed economies. Australia has among the highest carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per capita in the world, behind only 11 countries according to Our World in Data. By 2023, Australia had reduced carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per capita by 24 per cent since 2005.

This compares to 52.8 per cent in the UK, 31.1 per cent in the US, 21.2 per cent in Japan, and 20.8 per cent in Canada.

During the same time, emissions per capita increased by 3.8 per cent across the globe.

The world’s largest emitter, China, increased its emissions per capita by 86.4 per cent in that time and India, the third-largest emitter, increased emissions per capita by 106.8 per cent.

However, the emissions per capita of India and China are still relatively lower than those of the US and Australia – India is about a quarter of China, which in turn is about half of Australia.