The Climate Change Authority released its Final Report on Australia’s Future Emissions Reduction Targets on 2 July 2015. The report confirms the Authority’s preliminary recommendations for:
- a 2025 target of 30 per cent below 2000 levels
- further reductions by 2030 of 40 to 60 per cent below 2000 levels
The Authority considers these recommendations constitute a credible package for the Australian government to take to the Paris Climate Conference in December.
The report presents the Authority’s reasons for confirming its preliminary recommendations, drawing on stakeholder consultation and new information since it released its draft report in April. Overall, the Authority considers that:
- the recommended targets are consistent with climate science
- the targets are comparable to the targets of similar countries
- the costs of achieving targets, and the distribution of those costs, are best considered in the design of policies
- costs must be considered against the economic, social and environmental benefits of avoiding dangerous climate change.
The report completes the first of three phases of the Special Review of Australia’s climate action requested by the Minister for the Environment.
The next phase of the Special Review will assess whether Australia should have an emissions trading scheme. The Authority will consult further with stakeholders as the review progresses.
Further information:
- Final report on Australia’s future emissions reduction targets, July 2015 (DOCX)(PDF)
- Chair’s statement on release of the final report, July 2015
- Data underlying the graphs in the Final report (XLSX)
- Draft report on Australia’s future emissions reduction targets, April 2015
Further reading
