This report shows Australia is highly vulnerable to many consequences of a changing climate, from worsening heatwaves, droughts and bushfires, to devastating coral reef bleaching, while most of the nation’s population centres are also highly exposed to sea level rise.

Key findings:

• mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:
  EN-AU">Australia is failing to tackle climate change with emissions rising and a lack of any coherent, long-term national approach to reduce emissions in the short, medium or long term. We are known as a global climate laggard.

   

• mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:
  EN-AU">Failure to rapidly and deeply reduce greenhouse gas emissions increases the risk of deteriorating human health and well-being, massive forced migration and conflict, crippling economic damage around the world, and the Earth’s sixth great extinction event.

   

• mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:
  EN-AU">Australia is highly vulnerable to many of the consequences of a changing climate, from worsening heatwaves, droughts and bushfires, to devastating coral reef bleaching, and most of our population centres being exposed to sea level rise.

   

• mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:
  EN-AU">Amongst the G20 countries, Australia’s emission reduction target – a reduction of 26-28% on a 2005 baseline – is unusually weak, nowhere near what is required for us to play our fair share in meeting 2°C Paris target.

   

• mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:
  EN-AU">Renewable energy has already replaced ageing, polluting fossil fuels as the energy system of the future, with the installation of solar and wind systems globally doubling every 5.4 years.

   

• mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:
  EN-AU">Maintaining this rate of renewable expansion could see the world’s energy systems completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.