Environment Victoria CEO Jono La Nauze is available for comment on the Andrews government’s announcement on legislating higher emissions targets.
- We welcome the recognition that the severity of the bushfires demands an urgent response to climate change, including cutting pollution from coal.
- Victorians are understandably frightened by the warming we are currently experiencing, and it’s great to see a government responding to their concerns.
- We are currently experiencing the effects of just over 1 degree of warming. Natural disasters, including bushfire seasons, will become much worse unless warming is slowed.
- However, as Greg Combet said in his emissions recommendations, a target of 60% by 2030 is too low to keep warming below 2 degrees. This is a great start, but we must go further.
- In practical terms, these targets mean the government must bring forward the closure of ageing, inefficient coal power stations and immediately invest in renewable capacity to replace them.
Media contact: Hannah Craft, Essential Media, 0423 377 965
