Senator David Pocock criticized the Coalition’s pledge to remain committed to the Paris Agreement but scrap Australia’s legally binding climate targets.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would abandon Australia’s 2030 target of cutting emissions by 43 percent from 2005 levels if the coalition won the next federal election.
“Abandoning Australia’s commitments in Paris at a time when more action rather than less is needed would be an extraordinary act of vandalism against the future of the people and places we love,” Senator Pocock said.
Under the Paris Agreement, members must increase their emissions targets every five years and cannot lower them.
It commits countries to taking measures to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C and to keep it below 2°C.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said if the coalition won the next federal election it would abandon Australia’s 2030 target of cutting emissions by 43 per cent from 2005 levels.
Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman dodged questions about whether the coalition would have a 2030 target.
“We are committed to the Paris Agreement,” he told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.
“We are committed to net zero by 2050 and will have more to say about the targets long before the election.”
Climate groups warn that backtracking on Australia’s targets could hamper investment as the nation transitions to a cleaner economy.
Such a move could jeopardize Australia’s membership in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen described the coalition’s explanation of its policy as an “ongoing disaster”.
“The fact of the matter is that the Paris agreement is very clear: there can be no regression,” he said.
“If you reduce your target, then you will be violating the Paris agreement.”
Bowen said forecasts released in December showed Australia was on track to achieve a 42 per cent emissions reduction, just shy of the 43 per cent target.
The coalition proposes introducing nuclear energy as a way to reduce emissions.
Under the Paris Agreement, members must increase their emissions targets every five years and cannot lower them.
The first nuclear power plants would not be built until 2040 at the earliest, CSIRO reported in May.
Australia’s ban on nuclear power would also have to be overturned through a lengthy process.
Nuclear reactors in the country would contribute to worsening climate outcomes, according to Solutions for Climate Australia.
“Nuclear power is a worrying distraction from getting on with the urgent task at hand: replacing polluting coal and gas with the solar and wind technology we have now,” said the group’s lead activist, Elly Baxter.
The Paris Agreement and its emissions targets had mobilized billions of dollars into new clean, job-creating industries, Climate Change Investors Group managing director Erwin Jackson said.
“Reversing these commitments and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would corrode investor confidence at a time when Australia is competing for funding for new clean technologies and industries, local jobs and training opportunities,” he said.