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When it was put to him that Australia was expected to set its 2035 plan next year, he again emphasised the earlier target.
“We’re committing to our 2030 target. It’s legislated. 2030 comes before 2035, and we’re very focused on delivering, and we’re on track to delivering that target,” he said.
The government will not set its 2035 target until it receives final advice later this year from the Climate Change Authority, now chaired by former NSW Liberal treasurer Matt Kean. The authority has previously given draft advice saying Australia should cut emissions by 65 to 75 per cent by 2035. Like the existing target, this uses 2005 as the base year.
But with President-elect Donald Trump pledging to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, scrapping any obligation to cut emissions, the Albanese government is leaving room to adjust its ambitions.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said last week that he wanted to see how China responded to the US decisions.
“China will be putting forward a 2035 target at some time in the next few months. They are the world’s largest emitter, with a bit more than a third of emissions,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program.
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Negotiators from 80 countries are attending a United Nations climate change summit that is due to end this Friday in Azerbaijan, but the Baku summit meeting is focused on climate finance rather than the 2035 targets.
While Australia could reveal the 2035 targets early next year, it could delay its commitment until the next UN climate summit, which is scheduled for November 2025 in the Brazilian city of Belem. This would delay a commitment until after the election, which is due by May.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to commit to the 2030 target, even though it is already in force under legislation, and declared in June he was “not going to send the economy into freefall” by going too far to reduce emissions.
Greens leader Adam Bandt and his party have set a target of net zero emissions by 2035, a goal that would require a mammoth shift to renewables at a faster rate than the government believes possible, given it is aiming for net zero emissions by 2050.
Bowen joined other cabinet ministers on Saturday to commit $125 million towards renewable energy in a program that seeks to help Pacific nations.
The announcement, timed for the Baku climate summit and made with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and International Development Minister Pat Conroy, redeploys funds previously set aside for a carbon offset scheme in the Indo-Pacific.
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