Australia has announced its long-awaited 2035 emissions reduction target, which the government has set at 62 to 70 per cent. It comes three days after the Albanese Government released the nation's first-ever National Climate Risk Assessment, which projected that 1.5 million Australians are at risk of rising sea levels if emissions were not dramatically cut.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was acting on the independent advice of the Climate Change Authority when he set the target.
"Our government knows that climate change is real," he said, before adding that he had listened to the science.
"It's the right target to protect our environment, to protect and advance our economy and jobs, and to ensure that we act in our national interest and the interest of this and future generations," he said at a press conference in Canberra on Thursday.
Albanese was joined by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean.
Bowen said the target was "ambitious and achievable, sensible and serious" and its ambition was comparable to similar economies around the world.
You can read the Climate Change Authority's full report here.
Greenpeace's climate change expert, Dr Simon Bradshaw, said the National Climate Risk Assessment showed "just how dangerous our future will be" if global warming isn't limited to 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial average.
He described today's announcement as the "biggest decision" the government will make on climate change this decade, noting Australia has a "lot of skin" in the game when it comes to reducing global emissions.
"Australia is a very big player because it's a big fossil fuel producer," he said. The country is the second biggest exporter of coal and gas, and has continued to greenlight new fossil fuel projects, despite repeated warnings from the United Nations.
The Greens, Climate Council, the Greens and the Australia Institute had all called on the government to adopt net zero by 2035, based on 2005 emissions levels. The Opposition had expressed scepticism about the plan, warning that there would be a high cost of achieving an emissions reduction. Prior to the announcement, it had been expected the target would be between 65 and 75 per cent.
Prior to the announcement, Bradshaw warned that anything less than 75 per cent would not be enough to safeguard the nation from climate extremes.
"If it's below 75 per cent, it would really leave the Albanese government's climate credibility hanging by a thread," he said.
Generation Justice, a group of young people that recently lodged a United Nations human rights complaint over Australia's climate inaction, warned the announced range could condemn future generations to a "terrifying future".
"I am furious. Our oceans are on the frontline of the climate crisis and as a beach-loving country we must do so much more to protect them from further warming," Generation Justice member Ruby Fox said.
The Australian Conservation Foundation called the reduction target "timid" and called on the government to stop approving new coal and gas projects.
"This target range condemns Australian communities to ongoing climate harm and is embarrassing in the face of the climate leadership being shown by our Pacific neighbours and states like Victoria and New South Wales," spokesperson Gavan McFadzean said.
World Wide Fund For Nature-Australia said government's plan "falls dangerously short of what the science demands" and called for it to be improved.
"It will mean more fires, floods and heatwaves and more species extinctions. This was clearly outlined by the government's Climate Risk Assessment report," its CEO Dermot O'Gorman said.
Bradshaw said that limiting emissions is not only important at home, but also for our Pacific neighbours, whose islands are becoming inhospitable as weather systems become more severe and the sea level rises.
Because Australia has an abundance of sunshine and wind, he said the nation had "enormous potential" to capitalise on renewable energy, giving the nation a "bright economic future" as the world decarbonises.
While climate change was once an abstract concept, it's now an existential threat to the daily lives of many Australians.
Flooding, drought, and bushfire are becoming more severe, increasing insurance premiums and making some coastal, forested and riverside areas uninhabitable. While marine heatwaves are impacting wildlife, tourism and industry on the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef, and around South Australia where an algal bloom has spread for 500km.