New call to slash emissions by 70%

The Climate Wars could be set to re-ignite, with business and green groups calling for more ambitious targets when it comes to cutting greenhouse gases.

A leading business group has called for Australia to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70 per cent by the year 2035.

In 2021 the then Morrison government committed Australia to net zero emissions by 2050 and last year the Albanese government mandated an interim target of 43 per cent by 2030.

But debate on what the target should be for 2035 is set to ramp up, with green groups telling a Climate Change Authority (CCA) enquiry that Australia should aim for 100 per cent emissions cuts by 2035, and the business organisation the Carbon Market Institute (CMI) arguing the figure should be “well over 70 per cent”.

The acting chief executive of the CMI, Kurt Winter, said Australia was “in an urgent race to net zero and beyond”.

“We need to commit to cutting emissions much deeper by 2035, and to taking decarbonisation action more widely across the economy,” Mr Winter said.

Steam billows from the cooling towers of the Loy Yang coal-fired power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. Picture: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Other organisations were more circumspect in their submissions to the CCA enquiry.

The Insurance Council of Australia said the government should “set a science-based emissions reduction target for 2035” consistent with Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming to well below 2°C.

In its submission, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) did not specify an emissions targets for 2035, but called for the government to outline a trajectory of emissions reductions by announcing targets for 2035, 2040 and 2045.

The BCA also called for “decarbonisation pathways” for all sectors of the economy.

The burden of reducing emissions was currently falling to the electricity sector and heavy industry, the BCA said, with the government’s safeguard mechanism targeting 215 of Australia’s most heavily-polluting facilities.

Mr Winter said Australia could cut emissions by 70 per cent by 2035 if the government “looks across the entire economy”.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced Australia’s 43 emissions target last year – but the 2035 figure is shaping up to be a whole new fight. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

He called for the government to consider expanding its safeguard mechanism scheme – which only came into effect on July 1 – to include all businesses that emitted more than 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas annually, instead of the current level of 100,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile the Climate Council called for even greater ambition, saying Australia should aim to reach net zero by 2035.

That position “aligns with the latest climate science, our responsibilities under the Paris Agreement, and the scale of action necessary to protect communities in Australia and worldwide,” a Climate Council spokesman said.

The importance of the government receiving “strong, independent, and science-based advice in this moment cannot be overstated,” the spokesman added.

Signatories to the Paris Agreement, including Australia, have agreed to announce their 2035 emissions targets (called a Nationally Determined Contribution) by 2025.

Originally published as New call to slash emissions by 70%