SYDNEY, Feb 21 2020 – The Morrison Government’s climate policy void has again been called out as Labor announced a policy of net-zero emissions by 2050. However, immediate and sharp emissions reduction are required to prevent a repeat of this summer’s unprecedented bushfires.Labor Leader Anthony Albanese made the announcement during a speech at the PerCapita thinktank in Melbourne this afternoon, which Greenpeace Australia Pacific Campaigner Jonathan Moylan said was another instance of someone else attempting to fill the Morrison Government’s climate policy vacuum.
“Australians who have just suffered through a climate-induced bushfire disaster want immediate action from the Morrison Government to cut emissions drastically over the next five to 10 years, not in 30 years’ time on nothing but a hope and a prayer,” he said.
“Net-zero by 2050 means we only have a 50 percent chance of keeping global heating at 1.5 degrees, which would mean bushfires more severe than this summer. But even that inadequate target is beyond the coal-huggers in the Morrison Government that continue to prioritise fossil fuel profits over the lives and livelihoods of Australians.”
Mr Albanese also revealed that Labor will oppose Morrison Government plans to use Kyoto carryover credits to meet emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement.
“Using accounting tricks to dodge our responsibility is unAustralian. The Morrison Government is shirking our responsibilities as one of the biggest polluters in the world and putting Australians at risk of more frequent and intense extreme weather events, like this summer’s fires and floods, while our Pacific neighbours fight back against raising seas,” Mr Moylan said.
“We have seen the devastation that comes from doing nothing, and the costs of a single bushfire season is going to be in the billions of dollars. If the Morrison Government wants to avoid ecological and economic catastrophe, it must enact a real climate policy with real medium-term 2030 emissions reductions targets and pursue a just transition away from coal and gas.”
Mr Moylan called out the Morrison Government for its meaningless “technology target” distraction that will see Australia left further behind as other competitor nations adopt increasingly cheaper, cleaner renewable energy.
“As other nations evolve their energy networks and economies Australia is being left further behind as investment stalls because the Morrison Government has no direction and no grip on the reality of the climate crisis,” he said.
Contacts:
Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Campaigner, Martin Zavan
0424 295 422