While the Morrison government keeps insisting we are outperforming other countries on tackling climate change, the rest of the world is increasingly critical of us for doing too little.
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The Goulburn Group (TGG), a community action organisation promoting a sustainable future, has tried to work out who is right by running a fact check on a letter sent to TGG by Angus Taylor, the federal member for Hume and Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction.
The letter was in response to questions TGG submitted to him from local constituents concerned particularly about Australia's response to climate change and its consequences for our community, as well as the rest of Australia and the wider world.
Mr Taylor did not respond directly to any of the questions, but the letter contained his general arguments on Australia's climate change policy.
We regret to say that we have had to mark Mr Taylor's letter as a FAIL.
If we, his constituents, were his teacher, we would have to add that Angus is a bright boy but does not pay enough attention in class.
The letter's claims and fact-checked responses
Angus Taylor: The Australian Government is committed to actively supporting practical, long-term solutions to reduce emissions. And our plan is working.
The Goulburn Group: Angus's "practical, long-term solutions" to climate change include large subsidies for fossil fuels, which he says have "a great future", a "gas-led recovery" that is opening up a huge new gas basin in the Northern Territory, coal exports into the indefinite future and pretending we can have clean coal and gas by supporting carbon capture and storage technology that, despite the billions of dollars spent on it by successive governments, has yet to operate successfully on a commercial scale anywhere in Australia.
AT: We are on track to meet and beat our 2030 Paris commitment to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels.
TGG: Our 2030 target is one of the lowest amongst developed countries and if adopted by the rest of the world would lead to catastrophic warming of 3-4C, not the 1.5C-2C under the Paris agreement. If we meet it, it will be due mainly due to the efforts of state and territory government, all of whom have higher targets. Our 26-28 per cent target compares to the US, which has committed to a cut of 50-52 per cent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and Canada by 40-45 per cent.
AT: The latest data shows Australia's emissions are more than 20 per cent below 2005 levels. Emissions are at the lowest level on record and lower than any year under the previous Labor government.
TGG: Most of the falls to date have been through changes in land use, in particular reduced levels of tree clearing, which are primarily the result of policies by state, not federal, governments and have been implemented for broader environmental reasons, not just climate change. Excluding changes in land use has seen emissions fall by 3 per cent since 2005, not the 20 per cent claimed by Angus. The base year used is critical. Emissions excluding land use increased by 32% between 1990 and 2017.
AT: Between 2005 and 2019, our emissions fell faster that Canada, New Zealand, Japan or the United States.
TGG: Even including land use, Australia has the highest emissions per capita in the G20 developed countries, which include Canada, Japan and the US.
AT: Climate change is a global challenge in need of a solution that works worldwide, in both developed and developing countries. The recent IPCC report makes clear that the collective actions of governments is required to reduce global emissions.
TGG: Australia is not playing its part in global collective action. Developing countries point out that the developed world is responsible for most of the increase in greenhouse gases that has led to the present crisis. China is now the world's biggest emitter but per head of population is about a third the level of Australia - 8 tonnes of CO2 pa, compared to 22 tonnes for Australia.
AT: The Government is taking a technology, not taxes approach to reducing emissions. We see the power of technology to transform industries and reduce emissions - not just here at home but also around the world.
TGG: Waiting for technology is kicking the can down the road, like we have been doing for most of the last 30 years. Technology already has brought the price of renewable electricity way below that of coal and gas but the government keeps promoting and subsidising these fossil fuels. Waiting for technology in other areas, such as producing clean hydrogen, is an excuse for not acting now. In the U.S. and Europe, subsidies and incentives have brought the price of electric vehicles down to affordable levels, while they are still too expensive for most consumers in Australia, where there are no federal government incentives. Innumerable studies and the most recent survey of economists have found that the best way of reducing emissions is by putting a price on carbon. When Australia did so in 2012, emissions started falling until the Abbott government abolished the carbon tax and they started rising again. That will come back and bite us because now the US and Europe say that we have an unfair competitive advantage by not charging for the carbon content of our exports. Their solution: putting a tax on our exports.
AT: And to do so in a way that grows economic opportunities and jobs - rather than taxes that destroy industries and the jobs and livelihoods they support.
TGG: The economic opportunity lies in leading the world - not bringing up the rear - in moving to renewable sources of energy, as recognised most recently by the Business Council of Australia, which represents big business, the traditional supporters of the Liberal Party. It estimates that accelerating emissions reductions can increase average incomes in Australia by $5000 a year.
AT: Every country has a role to play, which is why we're focused on practical solutions that will work not just for Australian heavy industry but also in our region's large and growing economies.
TGG: What Angus sees as our "practical" role is flogging more coal and gas to Australia's heavy industries and to countries in our region.
AT: Getting these technologies to cost parity will mean countries won't have to choose between growth and decarbonisation.
TGG: Another excuse for not acting. We already have technologies that are cheaper than fossil fuels that can contribute to growth in Australia and overseas, such as the solar energy project that plans to export electricity to Singapore.
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