Paris Agreement: Understanding Australia's new emissions reduction target

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced on Thursday that Australia’s emissions reduction target for 2035 is 62 per cent to 70 per cent lower than in 2005. What does it all mean anyway?

What is the 2035 target being announced?

Australia is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, the 2015 United Nations treaty on climate change. All members of the Paris Agreement are required to submit their targets for how much they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 before the next UN climate conference, COP30 in Brazil this November.

The goal of the Paris Agreement is to have global emissions peak and then rapidly fall, so that by mid-century the world achieves a balance between human-generated emissions and greenhouse removals by sinks. This equilibrium is also called “net zero”.

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