Top US official calls out Australia over lack of climate ambition

It would be “helpful” if Australia increased its emission-reduction goals in the lead-up to crucial United Nations climate talks in Glasgow in November, a top United States official says.

Heatwaves across the northern hemisphere have seen fires surge across Greece. Credit:Bloomberg

Jonathan Pershing, deputy to President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry, said the Australian target of a 26 to 28 per cent reduction by 2030 had “been overtaken by events” and that it should “step forward with a more ambitious effort”.

He told an online conference the UN report on climate change showed the world had to reduce emissions by about 10 per cent a year by 2030 to stabilise the climate, but that so far only about 55 per cent of the world’s economy had pledged to do so.

He noted that the US’s new pledge of 50 to 52 per cent had put it on the right path and the United Kingdom was ahead of the curve with its 68 per cent pledge. China, which says it will see its emissions peak by 2030, was not yet on the right trajectory, Mr Pershing suggested.

He said it was important that those nations who had made the right commitments demonstrate at the upcoming COP26 climate talks that they had policies in place to achieve them, and those that had not must commit to do more.

“Those that have not yet moved, they need to deliver. The world can’t tolerate virtually half of the global economy not participating in the aggressive emissions-[reduction] trajectory.”

Mr Pershing noted Australia’s success in solar power uptake, but added: “In my mind, [it] may be helpful to see Australia step forward with a more ambitious effort.”

Conservative UK cabinet minister Alok Sharma, who will serve as president of the COP26 talks, also called for more action, saying the UN climate report showed the world had not done enough to act since the Paris climate talks.

“COP26 ... must [be] the moment that every country in every part of society embraces their responsibility to protect our precious planet. We all have a part to play,” Mr Sharma said.

On Tuesday at the same online conference, former UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Australia was “out of step” with the rest of the world on climate change due to the federal government’s comparatively low 2030 pledge and its failure to have a firm net zero by 2050 commitment.

“Australia’s current goal of a 26 to 28 per cent reduction on 2005 levels by 2030, and the absence of a national zero emissions target, is out of step with its states, its trading partners, and other comparable nations,” Mr Ban said in a video address to the forum, hosted by the Climate Action Network Australia.

“Internationally, Australia’s major trading partners, including Japan, South Korea and China, have mid-century net zero targets.

“In the short term, the US, Japan, the EU and the UK have committed to emissions reductions that are roughly two to three times as deep as Australia’s current effort.”

Labor’s climate change spokesman, Chris Bowen, told the conference that Australia should increase its targets and that they should be “informed by the climate science and by the economics of what we need to do now to achieve net zero by 2050”.

The Morrison government was approached for comment.

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Nick O'Malley is National Environment and Climate Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is also a senior writer and a former US correspondent.

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