Australian opposition bloc vows to dump 'unachievable' 2030 climate target

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - Australia's opposition Coalition vowed to abandon the country's 2030 climate target, which it called "unachievable," local media reported on Saturday.

Canberra committed under the Paris Agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43% compared to 2005 levels by the end of the 2020s.

Jettisoning this commitment would also mean withdrawing from the 2015 deal, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The Coalition, which is an alliance of the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia, argues that the center-left ruling Labor party will "fail" to meet the target, while "significantly damaging Australian industry in the process of trying."

But it remains committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, arguing nuclear power should play a key role in getting there.

Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien said the cost would simply be too great.

"If Labor is going to achieve its 2030 targets, which industry is it going to attack?" he questioned.

"The only way now that Labor can achieve its 2030 target, is to collapse industry. We will not have a bar of it from the coalition," O'Brien said.

Though, most recent projections from the Climate Change Authority found that Australia is not on track to meet the 2030 target, it, however, suggested if the government implemented policies as promised, the country could come "very close to making the goal."

The Coalition argues that too will be impossible to meet, and is preparing to detail a very different energy policy — relying more heavily on gas, while nuclear power plants are built on the sites of retired coal-fired generators.

"When it comes to our energy policy — that will be released in due course," O'Brien said.

"But we will not accept from Labor an ongoing dishonesty, trying to tell the Australian people that everything is going well.

"This is turning into a trainwreck for our economy," he added.

- Australia's international reputation at 'risk'

The Coalition is focusing on gas and nuclear power, which the Australian Conservation Foundation describes as a "fantasy which Australia does not need."

The federal government criticized the announcement, saying it "risks Australia's international reputation and certainty for industry."

It said there is simply no way to revise the 2030 target backward without withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the coalition needed to spell out how it would handle that.

“The Paris Accord is very clear — you can't backslide, you can't reduce your commitments," he said.