The Federal Government’s climate plan announced today is based on repackaged state commitments, fantasy, and unverified projections, says Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
At the eleventh hour before COP26, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has produced a plan that does not commit to a stronger 2030 target, rejects phasing out coal, oil or gas, and relies on projected technologies that have yet to be developed.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter said the announcement is meaningless without steep cuts to emissions this decade and will not stand up on the global stage.
“Scott Morrison’s “net-zero plan” appears to be to sit back and let others do the work of actually reducing emissions, slapping a “net-zero” sticker on his government’s current pathetic climate efforts,” he said.
“This is a political scam, not a serious plan. Let’s be clear: there is still no credible plan. What we saw today from Morrison was effectively just another fig leaf for inaction.”
“Morrison is coasting on projections of a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, which we’re already on track to hit thanks to progress made by the states, territories and business – and relying on a dirty wishlist of fantasy technology like carbon capture and storage.”
“Scott Morrison’s irresponsible “plan” involves no change to Australia’s coal and gas exports, which are fuelling climate damage all over the world. The amount of hot air contained in this so-called plan will do more harm to the climate than the measures in it do good.”
“Australia already signed up to net zero under the Paris Agreement in 2015, meaning we have made next to no progress in six years – against a backdrop of devastating and accelerating climate impacts. If Morrison expects to front up to COP26 with this sorry excuse for a net-zero emissions target and no increase in formal ambition on Australia’s 2030 target, he’ll be laughed out of the room, and Australia will face the economic and diplomatic consequences of his failure to act on climate change.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s most influential energy modelling agency, has advised that unabated coal power stations in developed countries must close by 2030 in order to reach net zero by 2050. Yet Scott Morrison has confirmed there will be no phase out of coal, oil, or gas.
Having faced the climate laggards he considers friends, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will now come face-to-face with global climate reality – and the countries leading it – at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow this week.
In line with the Paris Agreement’s aim of capping global heating at 1.5 degrees, the UK has committed to reducing emissions by 68 per cent by 2030 and 78 per cent by 2035, while the US has pledged a 50-52 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2030.
