Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) has written to the Government highlighting grave concerns it holds with the government’s current plan for achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The plan is inconsistent with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, which has warned that only a narrow window of opportunity is left for urgent and drastic action to reduce global emissions. The government’s plan also shuns Australia’s responsibility to update its 2030 emissions reduction target, as a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“The IPCC have made clear that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if emissions continue to increase at their current rate, with catastrophic consequences. Australia should therefore be implementing a much stronger emissions reduction target for 2030, as other signatory nations to the Paris Agreement have done,” CRA President, Br Peter Carroll FMS, said.

In its letter, CRA pointed out that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had applauded other countries for their emission reductions efforts, but had specifically criticised Australia, saying, "a growing number of G20 developed economies have announced meaningful emissions reductions by 2030, with a handful of holdouts, such as Australia.”

“The IPCC report has highlighted that Australia is particularly vulnerable to the effects of a warming climate, and we are witnessing that in realtime. Droughts, bushfires, biodiversity loss, heatwaves, and most recently, ongoing floods on the east coast of Australia, are wreaking havoc on Australians through loss of life, mental health, housing, infrastructure, livelihoods, animals and the natural environment,” said Anne Walker, CRA National Executive Director.

“We stand together, with so many Australians, urging the government to overhaul its Climate Change policies. This should begin with a commitment to stop funding any new fossil fuel projects, and instead turning to investment in genuinely renewable energy,” she said.

CRA urged the government to consider its approach to climate change, as the greatest and most important challenge for justice, for both people and planet, of our time.

Click here to read CRA’s letter to the Prime Minister.

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MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Sylvia MacRitchie-Hook | M: 0410 644 356 | E: comms@catholicreligious.org.au