Australian Greens Leader Adam Bandt has slammed Anthony Albanese’s move to adopt a net zero by 2050 pollution target, saying it will blow the 2 degrees budget and mean Australia gives up on the Paris agreement.

It is expected that Anthony Albanese will tomorrow announce that Labor will adopt a target of net-zero by 2050, without any target for 2030. Based on current projections, a simple straight-line reduction from 2022-2050 would blow Australia’s ‘2 degrees’ budget (as determined by the Climate Change Authority) and would likely exceed the 2 degrees budget as early as 2034. 

The Prime Minister's leaked plan to adopt a so-called "technology target" instead of committing to Australia reaching net zero emissions by 2050 is nothing more than a smokescreen, said Leader of The Australian Greens Adam Bandt, MP.

"We're in a climate emergency and yet instead of coming up with a plan to phase out coal like Germany has done, Scott Morrison is throwing up a technology smokescreen," Mr Bandt said.

As the IMF warns that even a $111 carbon price in Australia will be insufficient to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, Greens’ climate and energy spokesperson, Adam Bandt, announced that the Greens will introduce legislation on Monday to make the mining, burning and exporting of thermal coal by corporations and their executives (but not workers) a crime after 2030. 
 
“The climate emergency is so severe that a carbon price alone will no longer fix the problem,” said Mr Bandt.
 

The Australian public will never forgive the Labor Party if it abandons any commitment to taking genuine action on the climate crisis as Joel Fitzgibbon is now arguing, said Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale.