A simple ‘net-zero emissions by 2050’ target is not sufficient for Australia to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, finds recent report by senior climate scientists and policymakers of the Climate Targets Panel.

The Climate Targets Panel is an independent group of senior Australian climate scientists and policymakers who have come together with the aim of ensuring that debate about Australia’s emissions reductions targets are informed by sound science and policy. It includes Federal Liberal party leader John Hewson, and leading climate researchers Professor Will Steffen, Professor Lesley Hughes and Associate Professor Malte Meinshausen.

Key findings of the report:

1. To be consistent with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target must be 50% below 2005 levels. A 2035 target would need to be 67% below 2005 levels. Net-zero emissions would need to be reached by 2045.
2. To be consistent with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target must be 74% below 2005 levels, with net-zero emissions reached by 2035.
3. A simple ‘net-zero emissions by 2050’ target for Australia is not sufficient for the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C (nor 1.5°C).

The report offers an update of the Climate Change Authority’s (CCA) review of Australia’s emission budget and emission reduction targets necessary to stay within that budget, which was last undertaken by the CCA in 2014. In the absence of further work by the CCA since 2014, this report adopts the CCA’s methodology and updates it to take account of both the current global emissions budget and Australia’s domestic emissions since the CCA report.

More information here