Australia pledged Thursday to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70 percent from 2005 levels over the next decade, a target activists warned was not ambitious enough.

Under the landmark Paris climate accord, each country must provide a headline figure to the United Nations for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035, and a detailed blueprint for getting there.

A leading coal exporter, Australia’s pledge has been closely watched given its bid to host next year’s UN climate summit alongside Pacific island neighbours threatened by rising seas.

The announcement also comes days after a national climate risk assessment warned rising oceans and flooding caused by climate change would threaten the homes and livelihoods of over a million Australians by 2050.

One prominent cl

See Full Page