Minister rejects US criticism of broadcasts

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Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has rejected a call from a Biden administration envoy to Australia to be more ambitious on its carbon reduction target by 2030.

Deputy US Climate Envoy Jonathan Pershing has warned Australia’s targets are “not enough,” the Guardian reported.

Dr Pershing said the urgency of the threat described in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s landmark report this week would put “much more pressure” on Australia as one of the most major emitters in the world.

He says Australia should consider reducing its emissions by 50% by 2030.

Senator Birmingham told Parliament on Thursday that Australia used to exceed its commitments and would do so again on the target agreed during the latest climate talks in Paris.

“We have to keep our heads up that as a nation, when we made commitments to the world on our emissions reduction target, we kept.”

He said this is based on the fact that since 2005 Australia has seen a 20 percent reduction in emissions, which is faster than the United States at 13 percent, Japan at 10 percent. , Canada at one percent, or New Zealand at four percent. hundred.

“I’m not mentioning this as a review of these places, just to put in perspective what Australia has been able to achieve.”

Senator Birmingham said departments have been urged to “lead the way” to net zero.

The Morrison government has yet to make a formal commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 to match its closest ally, the United States.

Other governments are also preparing to set more ambitious targets for 2030 or 2035, increasing the pressure on Australia ahead of international climate talks in Glasgow in November.

Representing the Prime Minister in the Senate, the minister said investing $ 20 billion in technologies to reduce emissions was essential for Australia to do its part.

The technological breakthroughs were also important in helping other countries that have higher emission profiles than Australia, he said, citing the United States, India and China.

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