What should we make of last Thursday’s announcement by Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen of Australia’s target for emissions reduction and the pathways to achieve this? The proposals largely have merit but also some flaws. We can be broadly comfortable with the upper level of the target, but without significant policy change we will not see our emissions in the target range by 2035.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced last week that Australia would target emissions reductions of 62 to 70 per cent below 2005 levels by 2035. Credit: Michael Howard

The government is correct that to be worth setting, targets must be both ambitious and credible.

The upper end of the government’s 62-70 per cent target range – with some generous assumptions – can be seen as Australia doing its fair share to keep world emissions consistent with constraining warming to well less than 2 degrees. And for a country committed to this objective, it is necessary that we are seen to play our part. The stance of US President Donald Trump makes this more important, not less.

The government’s pathways to achieve this describe fairly well what needs to be done technically to reduce emissions, and the technology is available. Expanding the role of electrification powered by firmed renewables, and accelerating........

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