Albanese Reaffirms Australia’s Commitment To Action On Climate Change

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has written to the executive secretary of the UN United Nations Frameworks Convention on Climate Change confirming Australia's environmental commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Albanese conveyed Australia’s “enhanced” emission reduction’s target of 43 per cent by 2030.

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"We announced last December what our policy framework would be. At the time we released the most comprehensive modelling of any policy by any opposition since federation," he said. "What we didn’t do was set a target and then work out how to get there".

"What we did was work out what good policy looked like, and it happened to come out with a 43% target by 2030. What businesses have been crying out for is investment certainty

The prime minister said Australia is now looking to the future:

"The thing with climate action is that it’s all about the short-term capital investment that’s required, but then you get the long-term benefit because the cheaper, cleaner energy flows well into the future,” Albanese told reporters.

“And that’s what sets Australia up for a prosperous future. A future powered by cleaner, cheaper energy, a future in which we make more things here, a future in which we participate in the global effort to deal with the challenge of climate change but also seize the opportunity that is there from acting on climate change"

Albanese boasted that international leaders have all welcomed Australia’s changed position after a decade of neglect.

"Our changed position of 43%, up by 17 to 15%, from the 26 to 28% target has remained there since Tony Abbott determined it in 2015"

"What today demonstrated with the presence of the Australian industry group, the Business Council of Australia, the clean energy council, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and others who couldn’t make it because the chair and heads of the NFF are overseas, but they support the policy as well, is an opportunity that Australia has to end the climate wars," the prime minister said.

Legislation is set to be introduced when the parliament sits in July.

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