Australia urged to quickly ditch coal to meet new climate goals

KUALA LUMPUR: The rapid shutdown of coal-fired power plants and mines will be crucial for Australia’s new government to meet its more ambitious carbon emissions targets, environmentalists have said, while calling for renewable energy investments for mining communities.

Australia’s Labor Party formed a new government on Monday (May 23) after unprecedented support for the Greens and climate-focused Independents in Saturday’s general election ended nearly a decade of the Conservative coalition’s rule.

New Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the centre-left Labor party has promised to end the ‘climate wars’ – disagreements over the need for action on climate change that have haunted politics in Australia for years.

“The election was a strong vote for climate protection,” Joe Fontaine, a lecturer in environmental sciences at Murdoch University in Perth, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A phasing out of coal power is “crucial” to meet the Labor government’s new climate targets, added Fontaine, who said Greens and Independents could push for even more ambitious targets.

Australia’s reliance on coal power makes it one of the world’s largest emitters of CO2 per capita.

Green groups have long lobbied the federal government to end support for fossil fuels to better combat climate change, particularly after devastating bushfires and floods in recent years.

“Climate action (in terms of emissions) will be key legislation,” Fontaine said, referring to the new government.

Given the momentum in place, the power generation sector is likely to be the first to seize the opportunity, he said, citing infrastructure improvements and rules to ensure government vehicle fleets are electric.

COUNT TO LEADER?

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Australia – often seen as a regional laggard in climate action efforts – committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 28 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Prime Minister Albanese, however, has set a new target of cutting carbon emissions by 43 percent by 2030, although he has not yet committed to curbing new coal mines or scrapping existing fossil fuel projects.

The government’s new emissions reduction target is not in line with the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, said Bill Hare, CEO of think tank Climate Analytics in Australia.

Instead, the country must aim for a 60 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels, he added.

According to an analysis by research coalition Climate Action Tracker, Australia’s current climate policies are “grossly inadequate”, citing continued support for new coal and gas projects – 114 in the pipeline.

“Projected expansion of new coal mines and liquefied natural gas production capacity … would increase national emissions by 8 to 10 percent by 2030,” Hare said.

“Coal power is likely to decline faster under Labor Party policy – as it has a higher target for renewable energy – but Labor has no explicit target for a coal phase-out,” he added.