Albanese Government’s climate credibility is hanging by a thread

The Albanese Government has finally announced Australia’s 2035 climate target. And we’re livid.

This new target is far short^[1] of what’s required to keep communities in Australia and the Pacific safe. It risks a future of deadly heatwaves, worsening floods, and catastrophic sea level rise^[2]. It is an affront to vulnerable communities throughout our region.

Australia, with among the highest per person emissions in the world, will need to make far deeper cuts if we’re to fulfil our responsibility to help limit warming to 1.5°C – a lifeline for the Pacific. The Albanese Government’s climate credibility is now hanging by a thread.

With its thumping electoral majority, and with the Australian public^[3], unions^[4], and progressive businesses^[5] all voicing support for a stronger target, the Government had everything it needed to meet the moment and lay out a strong target and plan of action for this critical decade.

Instead – and following constant pressure from the fossil fuel industry to drive down ambition, including a dangerous report from the Business Council of Australia^[6] based on junkyard modelling – the Prime Minister succumbed to timidity. It is a target that only serves the interests of big coal and gas, and one that is far short of what we know Australia can achieve.

The Albanese government’s new climate plan is an affront to communities across the Pacific and Australia facing the escalating impacts of dangerous climate change. It prioritises fossil fuel profits and business interests over people

Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific

The target announcement comes at the end of a monumental fortnight that saw the  Government hold back the release of a chilling assessment of our climate future^[7] while it greenlit the extension of Australia’s largest fossil fuel project to 2070^[8].

Tomorrow the Prime Minister will head to New York for the UN General Assembly, where he will continue to try and secure Australia’s bid to host next year’s international climate negotiations (COP31) in partnership with the Pacific.

If Australia is to be a worthy co-host of COP31, it needs to show real leadership. Right now, it is failing that test. Four months into its second term, our Government seems willing to put the profits of fossil fuel corporations ahead of the safety of the communities and places we love.

The Government is proving too timid to lead us through the climate crisis and we must demand better. This means a real plan to cut climate pollution this decade and phase out fossil fuels. The fight goes on.