Dutton won’t unveil 2030 climate target until after election

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will not commit to a climate change target for 2030, signalling the next federal election will again be a battle between the major parties over global warming.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Dutton of an “extraordinary abandonment” of climate change action after the Liberal leader said on Tuesday the Coalition would not announce its revised emissions targets for 2030 until after the next federal election.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says emission targets won’t be set until after the federal election, which is expected next year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Climate experts are now warning the federal government will need to redouble its efforts to drive down emissions if it is to ward off the worst effects of global warming.

Dutton on Tuesday indicated that the Coalition would not settle on a 2030 target until well into next year.

“The Labor Party can try and please people in Paris. My job is to take care of the Australian people, and that’s exactly what I would do as prime minister,” he said. “We’ll look at the prevailing economic conditions after the next election, and we’ll make announcements in due course.”

Asked repeatedly if the Coalition would have a 2030 target, the opposition leader refused to say when or if one would be revealed, as his policy focus was purely on 2050.

“I think it’s very clear that we have [an] absolute commitment to Paris and our commitment for net zero by 2050,” Dutton said. “It’s important and it doesn’t need to be linear, as we’ve pointed out, and we’re not going to send the economy into freefall and families bankrupt through an ideologically based approach.”

Albanese called a press conference for the second day in a row to condemn Dutton’s stance on emissions, warning on Tuesday that “no action until 2040 means energy shortfalls, it means higher costs and it’s something that Australia should not pursue”.

But the prime minister would not commit to an ambitious emissions target of 65 per cent or more recommended for 2035, saying the government had not yet been given formal advice.

Australia is expected to announce ambitious new targets for 2035 in November at the COP talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, which the Albanese government would have to sell to the voters before an election expected early next year.

The Department of Energy has projected that Australia is on track to reach a 42 per cent reduction by 2030, 1 per cent shy of the 2030 target.

In April, the Climate Change Authority, which was created by the government to provide policy advice, released a paper declaring that a 2035 target would require an emissions reduction of between 65 and 75 per cent, if it was in keeping with the Paris Agreement efforts to stabilise warming beneath 2 degrees and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees. All targets are based on 2005 emissions levels.

The authority will take its official advice about a 2035 target to the federal government later this year.

Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council, called on the authority to recommend a reduction of at least 75 per cent, while Felicity Wade, co-convener of the Labor Environment Network said, “a realistic number has to start with a seven”.

Professor Mark Howden, director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University, said current emission levels suggested a 2035 reduction target of about 70 per cent would be needed to keep Australia on track with Paris targets.

Howden said abandoning interim commitments would breach some articles of the Paris Agreement, which commits nations to increasingly ambitious targets between now and 2050.

“If we abandoned the 2030 goal, and didn’t have a viable pathway to have emission trajectories that are consistent with the Paris Agreement, then we would be in breach of the Paris Agreement,” he said.

The Energy Users Association, which represents commercial and industrial interests, said it was concerned about the Coalition’s position.

“Business needs the certainty of a bipartisan approach to invest in technologies that allow it to compete in a low emissions future,” said the group’s chief executive, Andrew Richards.

“There is a lot of work to do to ensure that we achieve net zero goals at least cost and in a way that does not create disadvantage. Just because this is hard does not mean we shouldn’t do it.”

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said in a statement the organisation supported emission targets and a “glide path” to meeting Paris goals.

“We’ll look at any further targets and suggestions around how we will meet them as they are proposed,” Willox said.

“Targets need to be credible to support investment. Credible targets are a balance between enough ambition to match our peers and contribute to the Paris goals, and enough grounding to be practically achievable with realistic effort.”

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