While Scott Morrison remains adamant he won’t touch Australia’s 2030 target, one of our closest neighbours has issued a plea.
The Fijian Prime Minister has joined the chorus of world leaders calling on Scott Morrison to set Australia a more ambitious 2030 climate target.
The call by Josaia Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama comes as both leaders are in Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference, where world leaders are being called on to introduce more drastic 2030 emissions reductions targets.
Mr Morrison has maintained that Australia will not deviate from the 26-28 per cent decrease it set at COP21 in 2015.
Projections indicate, however, that Australia could reduce emissions by 35 per cent by 2030, but Mr Morrison has not officially committed to that.
Taking to Twitter, the Fijian leader said Australia’s pledge to reach net zero by 2050 “was a start” but more needed to be done.
“I’ve now urged Scott Morrison to show us a concrete plan to halve emissions by 2030,” Mr Bainimarama said.
“I’ve given him a copy of Fiji’s Climate Change Act as a guide – it is our uniquely Fijian way of following the science to keep faith with future generations.”
Speaking from Glasgow, Mr Morrison said Pacific leaders “always” asked for a bigger 2030 target.
“In every discussion I’ve ever had with Pacific Island leaders, that is something they’ve always encouraged us to do,” he said.
When asked whether Australia could leave COP26 with a higher 2030 target, Mr Morrison reiterated he would not budge from what he took to the 2019 election.
“Well, we will achieve, we believe, a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 and that will significantly outstrip the commitments that we’ve made of 26 to 28 per cent,” he said.
“But that 26 to 28 per cent is a commitment I made with the Australian people. That’s what I took to an election, and we always saw that as a floor, not a ceiling.”
Mr Bainimarama’s statement comes off the back of Fiji officially becoming the first international partner to join Australia’s recently established Indo-Pacific Carbon Offsets Scheme.
The aim is to develop a “high-integrity” and accessible carbon offset scheme in the region.
“The partnership will see our two countries share expertise to ensure Fiji is internationally recognised as a source of high-integrity carbon mitigation outcomes,” Mr Morrison said.
“We look forward to working with Fiji, other members of our Pacific family and Asian partners to share our expertise and drive investment in low emissions technologies.”
As part of the scheme, Australia has pledged a $44m boost to help Pacific nations meet their targets, attract investment in emissions reductions technologies and set up high-integrity carbon offset schemes.
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