Australia’s conservative Liberal-National Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the country will not be committing to a cut in carbon emission targets beyond its existing pledge of just five per cent.
Mr Abbott made the statement to AAP Newsagency after a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN headquarters in New York.
The UN has scheduled a summit for September as a step towards a new global climate agreement to be reached in the French capital, Paris, late next year through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The summit is not part of the actual negotiating process, but the UN chief wants to use it to reinvigorate the climate debate as the potential for global action stalls.
Mr Ban has also called for countries to bring forward their best possible offerings as far as carbon emissions cuts before the summit.
Australia has pledged to cut its carbon emissions by a slim five per cent by 2020.
At the same time the European Union has pledged a 20 per cent cut by 2020 and has already said it will exceed that target by as much as three per cent.
The United States has pledged to cut emissions by 17 per cent and expects to reach its target.
Environmental groups and analysts have said Australia, the world’s largest polluter per capita, should be adopting a target of between 15 and 25 per cent for 2020.
Mr Abbott told AAP in New York his government supported “strong action” on climate change and was investing $2.5 billion on emission cuts.
However, he would not be modifying the government’s plan.
Mr Abbott’s Liberal-National government is currently trying to repeal the carbon price laws put in place by the previous Labor government and is seeking to wind back or do away with a range of clean energy instrumentalities.
“It’s very important that every country take strong action to limit the rate of growth of emissions,” Mr Abbott said in New York.
“We know in Australia what we are going to do, we are going to get our emissions down by five per cent by 2020.
“We will be a good global citizen, but what we are not going to do is clobber our economy,” Mr Abbott added.
