The Greens have quietly shelved their long-held greenhouse gas cuts target of up to 40 per cent by 2020, meaning no party in Parliament is actively pushing for emissions cuts at levels recommended by climate-change scientists.
The party still aims to reach deep carbon dioxide cuts, and officially its policy is still to cut emissions by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020, but this is off the agenda until a carbon tax is established.
Three sources in the party confirmed this week that the Greens have now given up hope of persuading Labor to move much beyond its minimum commitment of a 5 per cent cut in emissions over the next decade.
Such cuts would leave Australia short of its position on the Copenhagen Accord - the non-binding agreement that the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd backed in December 2009 - which recognized ”the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius”.
The Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, said yesterday that Australia would take its unconditional 5 per cent carbon cut to the next round of UN climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa in November.
By freezing talks on emissions targets, Australia will not actively pursue mandated cuts for the year 2020 until either 2015 or 2017, when a fixed-price carbon tax would give way to an emissions trading scheme. A carbon tax is likely to reduce emissions to some extent, but only a trading scheme can cut them to an agreed level, by capping the number of pollution permits.
The Greens climate change spokeswoman, Christine Milne, said the party’s policy was still to transform the economy to allow for deep emissions cuts, but that the adoption of carbon tax meant discussion on targets would have to wait.
”Because we cannot reach agreement on scientifically acceptable targets, we have agreed to take targets off the table altogether and work on policies which focus on transforming the economy in the meantime,” Senator Milne said.
”The price on pollution that we are working towards, alongside policies to drive the rollout of renewable energy and energy efficiency, is about getting Australia on track towards a new, clean-energy economy.”
The Greens participate in the government’s Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, along with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, Mr Combet and two independent MPs, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.
Mr Combet said: “The Australian government stands by its carbon pollution reduction targets. However, the most important thing that we can do to take action on climate change is introduce a carbon price into our economy. A carbon price will cut pollution and drive investment in new cleaner energy sources such as gas, solar and wind.”
The government’s unconditional commitment, shared by the federal opposition, is still to cut emissions by 2020 to 5 per cent below the level in 2000.
But the Herald understands the government is still contemplating cuts of up to 25 per cent by 2020 if polluters take action to stabilize greenhouse gases at 450 parts per million - the level considered enough to deliver a 50 per cent chance of holding global temperature rise to 2 degrees.
