The Greens have reiterated their policy platform of no new coal and gas by 2030, following the release of the United Nations latest report on global warming.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, warns G20 nations like Australia must rapidly reduce emissions if there is to be any hope of keeping the world below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The IPCC report details the devastation already being unleashed on large parts of the world through extreme weather, exacerbated by climate breakdown, that has led to increased deaths from heatwaves, droughts and floods.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was now on ‘thin ice.’
The Albanese government’s response to the crisis currently revolves around its safeguard mechanism legislation before parliament, which targets the nation’s 215 biggest emitters.
The mechanism would force them to reduce their emissions by almost five per cent a year until 2030, with companies not able to meet the targets forced to buy carbon credits.
Greens leader Adam Bandt is urging Labor to listen to climate scientists and stop opening new coal and gas projects.
“This latest report from the IPCC is grim reading. It says that the pathway is narrowing for us to preserve life as we know it, but there is a way, Bandt said.
NSW Greens candidate for the Upper House, Lynda-June Coe, a proud Wiradjuri, and Badu Island woman, said unless governments do the work to keep fossil fuels in the ground – First Nations people will continue to resist and push back against a system intent on erasing our cultural identities and rights to country.
