August 11, 2015

Australia’s expected weak carbon reduction commitments out of step with the global move away from coal

SYDNEY, 11th August: The Australian Government today is expected to announce a commitment to a lowly 26% reduction in carbon pollution by 2030, ahead of the Paris climate negotiations at the end of the year.

“Australia’s expected commitment would be the lowest in the developed world and is completely out of step with the climate science and stronger goals recently released by other countries,” said Blair Palese, CEO of 350.org Australia.

“With today’s expected announcement that Standard Chartered is abandoning Adani’s Galilee Basin coal mine project in Queensland and demand for coal dropping dramatically in major economies, Australia’s failure to make a meaningful emissions reduction commitment exposes how out of step we are on climate change action compared with the rest of the world.

“Our Government’s addiction to fossil fuels is locking us in to more extreme weather, severe droughts, flooding and bushfires. It’s also committing us to a dying, dirty energy sector that the rest of the world is abandoning.

“Now is the time to show true climate leadership, bring renewable energy solutions to the table and play a significant role in the global negotiations on this issue,” said Palese.

“We won’t be part of the global effort and the global clean energy market if we are not willing to lead on the issue now here at home,” concluded Palese.