Jonathan Pershing,deputy to President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry,said the Australian target of a 26 to 28 per cent reduction by 2030 had “been overtaken by events” and that it should “step forward with a more ambitious effort”.
He told an online conferencethe UN report on climate change showed the world had to reduce emissions by about 10 per cent a year by 2030 to stabilise the climate,but that so far only about 55 per cent of the world’s economy had pledged to do so.
He noted that the US’s new pledge of 50 to 52 per cent had put it on the right path and the United Kingdom was ahead of the curve with its68 per cent pledge. China,which says it will see its emissions peak by 2030,was not yet on the right trajectory,Mr Pershing suggested.
He said it was important that those nations who had made the right commitments demonstrate at the upcomingCOP26 climate talks that they had policies in place to achieve them,and those that had not must commit to do more.
Loading
“Those that have not yet moved,they need to deliver. The world can’t tolerate virtually half of the global economy not participating in the aggressive emissions-[reduction] trajectory.”
Mr Pershing noted Australia’s success in solar power uptake,but added:“In my mind,[it] may be helpful to see Australia step forward with a more ambitious effort.”
A spokesperson for Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said Australia has a strong 2030 target.