Land-clearing laws' failure jeopardises climate change targets, says minister

Queensland tree clearing decision
contrary to climate change hopes.

Australia’s prospects of meeting its climate change targets have suffered a crucial blow with the failure of land-clearing reforms in Queensland, the state’s environment minister and conservationists say.

A renewed surge in clearing is expected after Thursday’s defeat of the Palaszczuk government bill that attempted to restore controls on deforestation. The defeat has also dashed hopes of tackling the nation’s fastest-rising source of carbon pollution.

However, Josh Frydenberg, the federal environment minister, insisted Australia was “on track to meet and beat” the first hurdle of its Paris climate pact commitments, a 5% cut in emissions by 2020.

Frydenberg’s optimism contrasts with a study released in February showing emissions from clearing in Queensland, after the former Newman government axed controls in 2013, had already wiped gains made under the federal government’s emissions reductions fund.

Read The Guardian story - “Land-clearing laws' failure jeopardises climate change targets, says minister.”

(The suggestion from Minister Frydenberg that Australia is going to “meet and beat” its Paris climate pact agreement is both ludicrous, irrelevant, mischievous, misleading and politically expedient. The Paris agreement sounds wonderful, but even the most optimistic view of what is proposed illustrates that the world is in serious trouble.

Achievement of the not-enforceable  Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) upon which the agreement hinges will see global temperatures increase by an estimated 2.7 degrees, and so although Mr Frydenberg can confidently beat his chest about meeting and beating what Australia agreed to, he is selling a fallacy as in reality Australians are doing naught about slowing climate change – Robert McLean).