‘That’s not the way the Paris Agreement works,’ said Department Acting Deputy Secretary Kushla Munro.
Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Department has confirmed that there are no financial penalties for failing to meet Paris Agreement targets.
At a recent budget estimate hearing, representatives from the Department reported that Australia’s carbon emissions were currently at 28 percent below 2005 levels, after a slight increase in emissions in the last two years.
According to Kath Rowley, the head of the Department’s emissions reduction division, emissions rose by 0.4 percent from 438.4 million tonnes in the year to June 2022 to 440.8 million tonnes in the year to June 2024.
She also noted that to meet the government’s target of reducing emissions to 43 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 under the Paris Agreement, Australia needed to cut emissions by 90 million tonnes of CO2 over the next six years.
These figures raised concerns among some members of the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee about Australia’s ability to meet the target.
Nationals Senator Ross Cadell then questioned the Department about whether there would be any real consequences if Australia could not achieve a 43 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
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“Are there financial consequences to Australia if we don’t meet them?” he asked.
In response, Kushla Munro, the Department’s acting deputy secretary, said the agreement did not impose financial penalties on participating countries.
“There’s not a financial penalty under the Paris Agreement. That’s not the way the Paris Agreement works,” she said.
However, Munro noted that there might be some impacts on investment.
“There were concerns in terms of where Australia was heading and the lack of capital attraction coming into this country,” she said.
In addition, the acting deputy secretary said Australia could suffer reputation damage if it failed to meet emissions targets.
“There are international consequences to the Australian if collectively we don’t meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” she said.
“There are consequences in the sense of setting targets, good faith commitments. [The] highest possible ambition is actually what’s required under the Paris Agreement.”
Cadell’s question came as the Paris Agreement does not contain hard enforcement mechanisms.
While the Agreement is legally binding among participating countries, there were no direct legal consequences for not abiding by its terms.
No Hard Targets Under Global Methane Pledge
Meanwhile, Greens Senator Larissa Waters questioned the Climate Change and Energy Department about its commitment to reducing methane emissions by 30 percent after the government signed the global methane pledge in 2022.
David Higgins, the acting head of the department’s international climate and energy division, clarified that the pledge did not require countries to cut methane emissions by a specific amount.
“It is about a focus on methane emissions reduction where that is best focused,” he said.
“In Australia’s case, that doesn’t require us to reduce emissions by 30 percent.
“It requires us to focus on methane emissions reductions where there are opportunities and relevant to any extent, not to any specific extent.”
Higgins also stated that while the pledge considered methane as an “aggressive” greenhouse gas, methane had not attracted the focus of the international community.
“According to the proponents, the pledge was around increasing that focus on methane emissions reduction, and in Australia’s case, the government chose to join the pledge because it recognises that methane is an important climate pollutant and recognises the need to focus on methane emissions reduction,” he said.
Apart from Australia, 158 countries have signed the global methane pledge.
