Australians are struggling with the cost of living, and rising power bills are putting even more pressure on household budgets. Three in 10 parents say they’re struggling to afford food, power bills or insurance. The key question is: how did we get here, and what can actually be done about it?

While power prices are complex, the short answer is, Australia’s reliance on polluting and expensive coal and gas is a major driver of high power bills. They are driving up wholesale power prices (the prices our electricity retailers pay), which make up up to 40% of bills. 

key reasons your power bills are sky high

1. Australia’s energy system still relies too heavily on expensive fossil fuels 

Australia is adding renewable power, like solar and wind at record rates – but for now, the majority of our electricity still comes from expensive and polluting coal and gas. These days, electricity made from fossil fuels is far more expensive than renewable power. In 2025, the average price of electricity from fossil fuels is $123 per megawatt hour (MWh), almost twice the average price of electricity from renewables ($64 per MWh). Already, more than 40% of our power is from renewable sources, and adding more will avoid even larger power price hikes.

Fossil fuel prices are so high because on top of general inflation, coal and gas-fired power stations pay international prices for the fuels. Prices have eased since the extreme spikes driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, but are still high. As long as our energy system continues to rely on fossil fuels that are bought and sold as international commodities, we will remain at risk of sudden and unexpected spikes in power prices. In contrast, the wind and sun are free, and when backed up by storage like batteries, they can provide abundant, locally produced power forever.

Read more: An Aussie Roadmap: building a clean, reliable and low-cost electricity grid.

2. Gas companies export the vast majority of Australia’s gas for eye-watering profits, at the expense of Australian families and businesses

Fossil gas prices are high because we are one of the largest exporters of gas in the world, exporting around 80% of our gas, which means we have to compete with global export prices. Gas companies ship so much of their gas offshore because that’s how they maximise their profits. 

Companies exporting fossil gas have made close to $100 billion in profits since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in 2022, at the expense of Australian families and businesses. More and more Australian households are struggling to stay on top of their power bills, and industries are under significant pressure, and even closing down, due to high gas costs. These multinational corporations are making billions while providing almost no benefit to our economy and costing us thousands of dollars every day. At the same time, they are responsible for huge amounts of climate pollution both in Australia and worldwide.

Because gas is so expensive, electricity made using gas has a disproportionate impact on overall power prices. Even though only about 5% of electricity in Australia’s main grid comes from gas, research from Griffith University shows that because gas is so expensive, gas prices drive 50-90% of pricing periods in Australia’s main grid.

Expensive gas often sets power prices

Read more: 5 reasons Australia needs to break up with gas.

3. Our ageing and unreliable coal-fired power stations are driving severe price spikes

Most of Australia’s coal generators are more than 40 years old, and their ability to reliably produce power has dropped off dramatically – driving severe price spikes when there are unplanned outages. For example, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station, the 43 year-old Eraring Power Station in NSW’s Hunter Valley, had more than 6,000 hours (250 days) of planned and unplanned outages in 2024. Yallourn in Victoria is limping to its retirement date, with at least one of its generators unexpectedly out of action for one-third of the year in 2024.

When there are coal outages, power prices go up due to reduced supply and the increase in expensive gas generation to meet our electricity needs.  Four of the most severe power price spikes in the past seven years have been driven by unplanned coal outages (Analysis by Baringa 2024). Coal outages contributed to yet another severe price spike in June this year. 

Building a diversity of projects, like solar, wind, and storage, in more places makes our grid more reliable. Instead of relying on a small number of large generators that must run constantly (no matter how much electricity we need), and cause huge shocks to the energy system whenever outages occur, renewables create a flexible, distributed system. Modern grids need a mix of technologies, not traditional baseload generation. 

Read more: Lights Out: Ageing Coal and Summer Blackouts.

Coal outages are driving major power price spikes

It’s not all bad news – here are two ways we can help keep power prices in check.

4. Replacing our ageing coal-fired power stations with renewables will save Australians billions on their power bills

We need to replace our ageing coal-fired power stations to keep reliably powering homes and businesses. Renewables are not only the least expensive option to build, but are also the lowest-cost source of power. This is because unlike fossil fuels, Australia’s abundant wind and sun provide locally produced power without needing to extract and burn expensive, polluting fuels.

Australia’s energy market operator is preparing for nearly all our coal-fired power stations to close by 2038, and 90% to shut down over the next ten years. We need new sources of electricity to keep the lights on. The fastest, lowest cost way to replace coal is with renewables and storage. CSIRO recently found for the seventh year in a row that renewables (wind and solar), including storage and transmission, is the lowest-cost option – far cheaper than gas and nuclear. 

As more and more lower-cost renewables enter our grid and displace coal and gas, this will help put downward pressure on power prices. Modelling shows that if we delayed the expected roll out of renewables and continued our reliance on coal and gas, power bills could be between $449-606 higher for households, and $877-$1,182 for small businesses in 2030. This adds up to between $4.5 – $6 billion in additional costs for households in Australia’s main grid in 2030.

Delaying the shift to renewables could cost Aussie households billions

Read more: What is the cheapest form of energy for Australia?

5. Aussie households can take control of their power bills by installing rooftop solar, switching to electric appliances and improving their energy efficiency    

The best way governments can help Aussies struggling with rising energy costs is to deliver more lower-cost, clean power, backed by storage like batteries, and make sure all Australians can access opportunities to reduce their energy bills and make their homes more comfortable and safe to live in. 

Electrifying our homes, improving their energy efficiency and increasing rooftop solar uptake will directly help households deal with the rising costs of living while cutting our climate pollution. Already, more than 4 million Australian households have already installed rooftop solar, with each saving on average more than $1000 on their power bills every year. Australians are also installing batteries in record numbers to store their cheap excess solar to use whenever they need it. Batteries can boost the savings of a solar system to more than $3000, depending on where you are in Australia and your energy use.

On top of this, households in all Australian capital cities could save between $500 and $1900 every year by getting off gas and switching to electric, efficient appliances. When combined with solar and batteries, all-electric homes could slash household energy bills by up to 90% in many parts of Australia.

Read more: Seize The Sun: How to supercharge Australia’s rooftop solar.

The post Five reasons why your power bills are sky high–and how we can help bring them down appeared first on Climate Council.

The five reasons a Coalition deal on environment law would fail on climate:

1. Climate accountability gutted: climate impacts would be completely ignored in approval decisions – even though climate change is the greatest threat to Australia’s environment. 
2. Free pass for polluting fossil fuel projects: By rejecting any inclusion of climate, the Coalition’s approach effectively gives new coal and gas developments a free ride through approvals. Under this deal, mega-polluting fossil fuel projects would continue to be approved unchecked by climate considerations and no guardrails would be put in place to prevent the fast-tracking of fossil fuels. 
3. Undermines an independent EPA reducing accountability of project impacts.
4. Dilutes key guardrails and safeguards designed to protect our environment: including the ‘net gain’ and definition of ‘unacceptable impact’, that are crucial to stopping irreparable environmental damage and ensuring developments leave nature better off.
5. Fails to fix logging loopholes and land clearing exemptions that are currently contributing to the destruction of our native forests and critical habitat.

In contrast to the Coalition, the Greens’ key demands have been reported as:

• A strong, independent EPA
• An end to native forest logging – such as closing existing loopholes
• Adequate protections for critical habitat, including from land clearing
• Consideration of climate impacts to some degree (even if a ‘climate trigger’ is off the table)
• No fast-tracks for polluting coal or gas projects
• No wholesale handover to states of approvals – including the water trigger

Rapid analysis of Coalition deal

Watering down climate pollution information provided by companies and the requirement for companies to make plans to reduce climate pollution

Climate accountability gutted: A Coalition deal would explicitly exclude emissions disclosure and consideration of direct climate pollution from projects. This would represent an abject failure to address climate change or climate harms in any way, and risk undermining Australia’s climate targets, policies like the Safeguard Mechanism and Australia’s international commitments.

Emissions disclosure requirements and plans to reduce pollution would either be gutted completely, or left toothless – in direct contradiction to the recommendations of the Samuel Review of the EPBC Act, which recommended disclosure of “the full emissions of the development”.

This would leave our national environment law completely out of step with existing emissions disclosure requirements (that include Scope 3) in many states i.e. Environmental assessments in both New South Wales and Queensland, Environmental assessments from the Federal offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA, and the Albanese Government’s own climate-related financial disclosure framework.

Fossil fuel projects given a free pass: By rejecting climate safeguards, the Coalition’s approach effectively gives new coal and gas developments a free ride through approvals. There would be no obligation to assess whether a proposed mine or gas field undermines Australia’s climate targets, nor any ban on fast‑tracking polluting projects

No guardrails against fast tracking of fossil fuels

There are currently several approval pathways in the bill that could inadvertently enable this – such as the streamlined assessment pathway, the bioregional plans, state accreditation pathways and NOPSEMA. A deal with the Coalition doesn’t set any guardrails at all to ensure polluting coal and gas projects aren’t fast-tracked, alongside the environmentally responsible clean energy and housing projects Australia needs.

The Minister retaining responsibilities, particularly around the assessment and approval of projects, and weakening the EPA’s ability to enforce the rules

Undermining an independent EPA: A core Coalition condition is to weaken the new independent Environmental Protection Agency. They want to extend political control over the EPA’s leadership – for example, by giving the minister power to sack the EPA’s CEO. This undermines the whole point of an independent watchdog. Effective oversight requires a strong, arms-length EPA. The new EPA must be free to enforce the rules without fear of political interference, otherwise environmental protections will be hollow.

Reinstating streamlined approval pathways that industries are demanding

This prioritises approval pathways and efficiency for business and industries over environmental protection.

It is noteworthy that the Coalition supports the creation of more approval pathways, when this law is supposed to reduce complexity and avoid duplication. 

This is about industry trying to have a foot in both camps: if the fast lane doesn’t work for them, then they want to keep a back door open.

Redefining or watering down the “unacceptable impact” safeguard

Dilution of the ‘unacceptable impact’ safeguard: The reforms propose a new test to block projects that would cause “unacceptable impacts” on protected matters – a crucial safeguard to stop irreparable environmental damage. The Coalition appears to be attempting to water this down by weakening the definition or making it easier for decision-makers to bypass. 

This test needs to be strong and objective, not weaker: it should clearly condition or prevent projects that would irreversibly harm critical ecosystems or drive species extinctions.

Redefining or diluting the concept of “net gain”

The Coalition also objects to provisions requiring developments to leave nature better off. Notably, they oppose the “net gain” requirement – a rule that any environmental damage from a project must be more than offset by repairs or improvements elsewhere.

If this requirement is watered down or scrapped, companies could tick a box with token efforts that don’t actually make up for the harm done. The result? Big projects go ahead, while our wildlife and ecosystems continue to decline.

Weaker penalties

A watered down penalty regime: Reduced accountability and compliance – letting industries/projects that break the rules or cause environmental damage off lighter by reducing penalties.

Nothing on the table regarding native forest logging, or land clearing

A deal with the Coalition would leave a gaping hole in the law by keeping native forest logging exempt from federal oversight. Right now, logging conducted under Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) isn’t subject to the EPBC Act at all – and the Coalition is not prepared to change that. This means destructive logging of our native forest could continue without meeting national environmental standards or scrutiny by the new EPA. 

This decades-old loophole must be closed to protect wildlife and carbon-rich forests. A deal with the Coalition would perpetuate business-as-usual logging, undermining the credibility of any “once-in-a-generation” reform. Graeme Samuel himself strongly critiqued these exemptions for forestry, describing them as “untenable loopholes” in the context of strengthening Australia’s environmental laws. The deal also preserves a free pass for continued land clearing – exactly the kind of loophole that has contributed to Australia’s nature emergency.

Learn more about the Government’s proposed environment law reforms here.

The post Five reasons why a Coalition deal on environment law would fail on climate appeared first on Climate Council.

Importantly, countries agreed to work together to hold ‘the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels’ and pursue efforts ‘to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.’

Every national government must now establish a clear plan to reach net zero emissions with regularly updated targets to cut climate pollution.

As governments converge once more at the United Nations Climate Conference, this time, COP30 in Belém, Brazil, some are asking what have we achieved to combat climate change? 

The past three years have been the hottest on record, climate disasters have slammed every continent this year and climate pollution from coal, oil and gas continues to rise.  

10 years after Paris, it’s worth taking stock of where we are at, how much the world has achieved, and the task ahead.  

We’ve made substantial progress in the global shift to clean energy

Pollution from coal, oil and gas continues to rise, but much more slowly

In 2023, the international community agreed to switch away from fossil fuels, finally formally acknowledging the contribution of coal, oil and gas to global warming.

This agreement was labelled the ‘beginning of the end’ for fossil fuels globally. While we still have a long way to go, the global energy mix is shifting away from coal, oil and gas:

• Global emissions are slowing: the latest data shows that we are burning more fossil fuels than ever and emissions continue to climb, but the rate of growth has dropped from 2% per year to 0.6% per year. 
• The world’s biggest polluter’s emissions have peaked: China’s emissions are already peaking, five years ahead of previous projections.
• Countries are phasing out coal: this year, Ireland became the eighth country to phase out coal generation since the Paris Agreement was signed. Many more have committed to becoming coal-free over the coming years, including nearly the entire European Union.
• More countries are committing to get off coal, oil and gas: Pacific Island Nations are leading a diplomatic campaign for a global phase out of coal, oil and gas, calling for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. In addition, 62 countries led by the UK and Canada have pledged to phase out unabated coal generation completely through the Powering Past Coal Alliance.

Clean energy is transforming the world

The global energy transformation is gathering speed: low-emissions energy sources (including wind, solar, hydropower and nuclear) now generate more than 40% of the world’s electricity, compared to 33% in 2015. 

Clean energy is smashing records:

• 2025 saw a significant milestone: in the first six months of 2025 the world generated more power from solar and wind than from coal.
• Record-breaking renewable rollout: Global renewable electricity generation is expected to nearly double by 2030 – enough new renewable generation to meet the combined power demand of China and the US.
• Solar is booming: ​​It took eight years for the world’s solar capacity to go from 100 TWh to 1,000 TWh, then just three years to double to 2,000 TWh. Solar prices have dropped 66% in the past decade, becoming the cheapest form of power in history.
• Investment in clean energy has increased 10x: Investment in clean energy has grown from around US$230 billion in 2013, to $2.2 trillion in 2025 (equivalent to AU $3.4 trillion – twice as much as global investment in coal, oil and gas). 
• China: The world’s biggest polluter, China, is transforming into a clean energy juggernaut. 
• Cleaning up transport: One in five cars sold worldwide is now electric, compared to just 1% in 2015.

Read more in our report Power Shift: The US, China and the Race to Net Zero

Net zero is the global minimum

When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 no countries had formal net zero targets. Now, 

83% of the global economy has a net zero target. Analysis shows that climate targets are becoming more robust over time, covering more sectors and gases. The majority of countries also have targets to increase renewable generation.

The Paris Agreement aims to reach peak global greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, reaching net zero by the second half of this century. If all countries follow through on their commitments, global emissions are expected to peak by 2030. However, to limit global heating to 1.5°C without overshoot, global climate pollution needed to peak this year, at the latest, and fall by 43% on 2019 levels by 2030. 

But global temperature is rising, and so are the impacts

We are already living in a hotter and more dangerous world, fuelled by climate pollution from coal, oil and gas. Today we are at 1.3°C of global warming, and the past three years have been the hottest on record. 

In 2015, the world was on a catastrophic path to an average global temperature increase of 4°C by the end of this century. Now, according to the latest official data, we are tracking towards 2.3 – 2.5°C, if countries reach their targets. 

This is a more dangerous future, and still falls far short of what is needed. Global warming of 1.5°C is considered the upper limit of what vulnerable communities, coral reefs, and many ecosystems can withstand. Science is clear that crossing the 1.5°C threshold increases the risk of triggering irreversible and cascading climate impacts. Transformative action, delivered urgently, is needed to limit how much and for how long we overshoot this threshold, and to bring temperatures back down to safer levels.

The only way to do so is by cutting pollution from coal, oil and gas further and faster than we are today, in all the places we can do so.

With almost half the world’s population already vulnerable to the effects of climate change, global work to adapt, build resilience and deal with loss and damage caused by climate-driven disasters is critical. The Paris Agreement set a Global Goal on Adaptation to increase countries’ efforts to prepare for and manage the impacts of climate disasters. In 2023 countries agreed to an adaptation framework, and a key focus of COP30 in Belém is to establish indicators to measure this progress.

The international community has also established a new Loss and Damage fund, and as of June this year, 27 countries had pledged more than AU$1.2 billion. This represents a small fraction of the estimated economic costs of climate change-induced loss and damage in developing countries of up to $AU800 billion in 2030, rising to up to 2.6 trillion by 2050.

We need to do so much more – and Australia has a key role to play

Australia is a major climate polluter: we are the world’s 10th largest polluter on a per person basis, and one of the largest fossil fuel exporters. So we have an important role to play at home, and abroad. With the right policies, Australia can contribute to global goals while growing our own economy and creating skilled jobs. 

Powering past our climate targets

Under the Paris Agreement, the Albanese Government has pledged to cut climate pollution 43% by 2030, 62-70% below 2005 levels by 2035 and reach net zero by 2050. 

Our analysis shows we can, and should, be doing much more to keep Australians safer. Read more about our analysis of Australia’s target and temperature rise scenarios

To keep Australians safer from worsening climate harm, and unlock Australia’s economic opportunity, the Australian Government should put in place policies to not just meet a 70% reduction, but power past it. 

Growing green export industries

Australia also has a significant opportunity in the global shift to renewables. By making use of our abundant renewable resources and critical minerals we can support global decarbonisation while boosting our own economy and creating skilled jobs in future-focused export industries. Australia’s green export opportunity could create over 400,000 jobs by 2040, growing the economy by $100 billion per year. 

Phasing out fossil fuels

We must also deal with polluting fossil fuels. We can start by stopping approvals of new and expanded fossil fuel projects. At the moment our environment law doesn’t include any mechanism to consider the climate impacts of such projects on our environment.

The Government has approved seven coal and gas projects this year alone, and 32 since forming government in 2022. Another 42 are waiting to be assessed.

The Albanese Government can still deliver credible environment laws that protect the places we love from climate harm, and don’t undermine our climate laws and policies.

Find out how Australia’s national environment law measures up on climate, and how we can fix this.

The post Ten years of the Paris Agreement: what have we achieved? appeared first on Climate Council.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries are required to submit increasingly strong targets every five years, enabling them to “ratchet up” (or ramp up) their effort over time to cut climate pollution. 

National targets need to be backed by plans and policies to allow those planned reductions to be achieved. 

This year marks a critical moment for our climate future. Under the Paris Agreement, nations are required to submit new 2035 climate targets. Collectively, these targets must slash global climate pollution fast enough to keep temperatures within internationally agreed limits designed to prevent catastrophic harm to people and ecosystems.

The central goal of the Paris Agreement is “holding the increase in the global average  temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursuing efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

Australia’s 2035 climate target is an opportunity to set Australia on the right path, one which keeps our kids safer from the impacts of climate change and sets our economy up for success in a fossil fuel-free world. Climate Council’s report, Stronger Target, Safer Future: Why Australia’s 2035 Climate Target Matters, provides a framework for setting the strongest possible targets.

Securing a safer future means hitting the brakes on accelerating climate change

Climate science is clear: humanity is now releasing huge volumes of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, primarily from the burning of coal, oil, and gas. This layer of gas acts like a blanket, trapping more heat every year. That heat fuels worsening extreme weather events and is dramatically damaging the ecological systems that sustain human life. In other words, we are living through a climate crisis.

In the future, the scale and severity of the climate crisis will depend on:

• How quickly we cut climate pollution; and 
• How much global temperatures rise as a result.

Every fraction of a degree of global temperature rise leads to more frequent and ferocious extreme weather events, ecosystem damage, and impacts on lives around the world. On the other hand, avoiding even a fraction of a degree of global heating is extremely significant in reducing risks to communities worldwide. 

Global average temperature rise is now 1.3°C above the pre-industrial average and, in 2024, global average temperatures hit 1.6°C over a full year, breaking through 1.5°C for the first time. Importantly, these temperature thresholds cannot be breached in a single year – climate science, and the Paris Agreement, take a longer-term view of global average temperature over decades. But this is a clear warning sign that we are moving closer and closer to exceeding the 1.5°C temperature threshold. 

We are currently on a trajectory towards drastic global temperature rise and catastrophic climate impacts that could undermine the foundations of our society, prosperity, and security. Swift action to slash climate pollution from the burning of coal, oil and gas is the only solution which can protect those most vulnerable to the catastrophic impacts.

“Climate history is playing out before our eyes. We’ve had not just one or two record-breaking years, but a full 10-year series. This has been accompanied by devastating and extreme weather, rising sea levels and melting ice, all powered by record-breaking greenhouse gas levels due to human activities.” – WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. 

The rate of global warming is now 0.27°C per decade and, without urgent efforts to cut climate pollution, we will overshoot the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding warming well below 2ºC in less than two decades. Climate change is accelerating and the risks are escalating at a much quicker pace than we previously thought.

The UN’s latest assessment concluded that the “current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy, and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country”. 

It is in this context that countries are required to submit their 2035 target under the Paris Agreement later this year.

What climate target should Australia commit to?

Australia will submit our new 2035 climate target, a Nationally Determined Contribution, under the Paris Agreement this year. The current target, to reduce Australia’s climate pollution 43% on 2005 levels by 2030, was legislated in 2022.

The Climate Change Authority has been charged with providing advice to the Australian Government on setting and achieving its 2035 target. This advice is expected to be shared imminently. In 2024, the Authority released an issues paper, ‘Targets, Pathways and Progress’, which considered a target range of 65-75% below 2005 levels by 2035.

In anticipation of this advice being provided to the Australian Government, Climate Council commissioned Climate Resource to assess the global warming implications of an Australian 2035 climate target. The analysis uses the latest emissions data and shows what an Australian target means for global average temperature risk.

This new analysis shows the only Australian target that’s compatible with holding global warming below 2°C is net zero by 2035. The closer the Australian Government’s 2035 climate target gets to net zero, the less climate risk Australians face. 

The analysis also shows that a 2035 climate target of -75% or more (on 2005 levels) is aligned with more than 2°C of global heating, but likely less than 2.3°C*. Weaker targets are aligned with even higher levels of global heating. Each fraction of a degree of global heating is associated with more catastrophic impacts to communities and ecosystems. A -65% target is aligned with below 2.4°C of global heating.

The Australian Government must set the strongest possible 2035 climate target. A stronger target will keep Australians safer. A weaker target risks more disasters, more damage and more danger.

Climate consequences if the world fails to set strong targets

As our climate has warmed, Australia has been being hit hard. Where long-term global warming is currently about 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels, Australia has warmed by an average of around 1.51°C since national records began in 1910.

This increase in temperature is fuelling more frequent and intense extreme weather events, including extreme heat, heavy rainfall, coastal inundation, dangerous bushfire weather and drought. Many communities have now experienced back-to-back disasters that would have previously been considered a 1-in-50 or 1-in-100 year weather event. 

The IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (IPCC 2018) shows the risks for both human and natural systems are lower if global temperature rise stabilises at 1.5°C. There are substantial increases in extreme weather events (e.g. extreme heat, heavy precipitation events and drought) between 1.5°C and 2°C. Impacts on land-based biodiversity and ecosystems are less at 1.5°C than 2°C, but overshooting the 1.5°C target could have irreversible impacts on some species and ecosystems. 

Climate change is accelerating, and current global efforts – including Australia’s – are dangerously inadequate. The future scale and severity of the climate crisis will depend on how quickly and deeply we slash global climate pollution. Each fraction of a degree of global heating is associated with more catastrophic impacts to communities and ecosystems.

For more information see our Stronger Target, Safer Future: Why Australia’s 2035 Climate Target Matters report.

Climate Council has launched a petition calling on the Australian Government to set the strongest possible 2035 climate target – and take urgent action to meet it!

*Assuming other countries adopt the same per-capita share of the global carbon budget.

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The Albanese Labor Government’s imminent decision on Australia’s 2035 climate target will shape the lives of every Australian. Climate Council’s latest report, Stronger Target, Safer Future: Why Australia’s 2035 Climate Target Matters, warns the safety, security and prosperity of our communities and environment is at stake as the government finalises their decision.

The science is clear. To do our fair share to hold global warming to well below 2°C, Australia needs to reduce climate pollution to 75% below 2005 levels by 2030, and reach net zero by 2035. Every fraction of a degree of warming avoided matters. While some climate impacts are getting progressively worse, like heatwaves or bushfire risk, beyond 2°C scientists warn that we will see abrupt, irreversible changes or tipping points that supercharge global warming and cause widespread system collapse, like:

• The loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, leading to multi-metre sea level rise.
• Frozen soils in the Arctic melt, releasing vast quantities of heat-trapping gases. 
• The Amazon rainforest experiences massive dieback – where plants die off en masse – releasing huge volumes of heat-trapping gases.

Why is Australia setting a 2035 climate target?

The Paris Agreement, adopted by 195 countries in 2015, represents the world’s collective approach to tackling climate change. Under the agreement, nations submit targets to cut climate pollution – described as Nationally Determined Contributions – every five years, enabling them to ramp up efforts over time to cut climate pollution. Together, these targets chart a global pathway to slash climate pollution and prevent global temperatures from exceeding agreed limits.

Like countries world-wide, Australia is expected to submit our 2035 climate target this year. The current target, to reduce Australia’s climate pollution 43% on 2005 levels by 2030, was legislated in 2022

Australia’s 2035 climate target is an opportunity to set Australia on the right path, one which keeps our kids safer from climate change and sets our economy up for success in a fossil fuel-free world. 

What climate target should Australia commit to?

Climate Council commissioned Climate Resource to assess the global warming implications of an Australian 2035 climate target. The analysis uses the latest emissions data and shows what an Australian target means for global average temperature risk.

This new analysis shows the only Australian target that’s compatible with holding global warming below 2°C is net zero by 2035. The closer the Australian Government’s 2035 climate target gets to net zero, the less climate risk Australians face. 

The analysis also shows that a 2035 climate target to reduce pollution by 75% or more puts the world on track to heat by more than 2°C but likely less than by 2.3°C, if other countries adopt the same per capita share of the remaining global budget from 2024 onwards.

Weaker targets are aligned with even higher levels of global heating. Each fraction of a degree of global heating is associated with more catastrophic impacts to communities and ecosystems. A 2035 target to reduce pollution by 65% is aligned with below 2.4°C of global heating.

At the end of the day, the stronger the climate target, the safer Australians are from climate risks. On the other hand, the weaker the target, the more vulnerable we become.

What targets are possible for Australia to achieve over the next decade?

Several significant Australian-based research projects have demonstrated that deep cuts to climate pollution in the next 10 years are possible. 

• The CSIRO’s pathway to reduce emissions by 75% on 2005 levels by 2035 and reach net zero by 2040. Under this scenario, average real GDP growth from 2020 to 2050 would only be 0.03 percentage points lower than the net zero by 2050 scenario, a cost significantly less than the economic, social and health benefits of cutting emissions.
• ClimateWorks Centre’s decarbonisation modelling, which shows how Australia can reduce emissions by 85% by 2035, demonstrates that a stronger 2035 target is achievable. 
• Climate Council’s Seize the Decade report shows that, by going all-in on proven clean technology that’s already available, Australia could reach a 75% climate pollution cut this decade. This suggests much more is possible by 2035, with further time available for technology development, the rollout of solutions like batteries, electric vehicles and electrification, and the wider availability of zero-emissions fuels like green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels.

What changes would Australia need to make to deliver a strong 2035 climate target?

Achieving stronger climate targets will require more action across our economy to double down on what is already working, and build the clean industries of the future. Australian households and businesses will need to change the way they power themselves, make things, and get around. Australian governments will face changes to revenue sources as coal and gas exports decline, and new industries emerge. 

We’re already making progress in Australia, with existing policies and efforts projected to cut climate pollution by almost 43% on 2005 levels by 2030 – a 13 percentage point improvement from 2021 projections. Already, a 51% climate pollution cut is projected by 2035 just by implementing current policies.

To protect Australians from the consequences of the climate crisis, Australia can also consider tackling its global carbon footprint by:

• Developing clean industries that contribute to global pollution reduction. For example, by developing green metals, cathode and battery manufacturing, sustainable shipping and aviation fuels;
• Supporting developing countries in their transition through climate finance or other mechanisms; and 
• Reducing our exported climate pollution, particularly by not approving new fossil fuel projects.

In recent years, climate solutions have been delivered at a speed and scale that has surpassed expectations. The last decade has seen incredible progress, with the cost of many climate solutions reducing dramatically. The key lesson here is our ambitions should not be constrained by what we currently consider to be the limit of our clean energy potential. Just as progress in renewable electricity outstripped all expectations over the last decade, progress in industrial decarbonisation and harder-to-abate sectors can far exceed our current projections over the next. 

By aiming high we give ourselves the best opportunity at fulfilling our true potential. The climate crisis demands that we do everything we can, everywhere we can, as fast as we can.

Climate consequences if the world fails to set strong targets

As our climate has warmed, Australia has been hit hard. Where long-term global warming is currently about 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels, Australia has warmed by an average of around 1.51°C since national records began in 1910.

This increase in temperature is fuelling more frequent and intense extreme weather events, including extreme heat, heavy rainfall, coastal inundation, dangerous bushfire weather and drought. Many communities have now experienced back-to-back disasters that would have previously been considered a 1-in-50 or 1-in-100 year weather event. 

Climate-driven extreme weather events in Australia are already becoming more frequent and intense, with devastating impacts. 

The future scale and severity of the climate crisis will depend on how quickly and deeply we slash global climate pollution. Each fraction of a degree of global heating is associated with more catastrophic impacts to communities and ecosystems.

For more information see our Stronger Target, Safer Future: Why Australia’s 2035 Climate Target Matters report.

Climate Council has launched a petition calling on the Australian Government to set the strongest possible 2035 climate target – and take urgent action to meet it!

The post Why Australia needs to set a strong climate target this year appeared first on Climate Council.

What began as a group of 27 Pacific Island law students is now a turning point that strengthens a struggling multilateral system for climate action. The Vanuatu government was also a driving force behind this first ever legal opinion on climate change. With these proceedings, we are seeing a familiar storyline play out in the international arena, one that the Pacific is all too familiar with – that if we want to survive the climate crisis, it is up to us to chart the path of least destruction. Whether or not the world follows our lead has differed over history.

Ten years ago, those of us present in Paris cried tears of resolve and pride when Republic of the Marshall Islands Foreign Minister, Tony De Brum, masterfully led the High Ambition Coalition to negotiate and secure what we now know as the Paris Agreement. The world then followed suit with their national emissions targets, some worthy of the phrase “climate action”, and some not. In 2022, Tuvalu became the first country to call for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty, with 135 cities and subnational governments today backing that same call. Over the years, Pacific Island states have attempted to set high bars for climate ambition and prayed that those with the power to impact global emissions saw our survival as worth fighting for.

Today, this call-and-response is again at play for the Pacific. When we became aware of Australia’s intentions to host COP31 as an Australia-Pacific COP, we saw the opportunity to chart a path encouraging Australia’s climate leadership. But it has been no easy feat. When the Australian government signalled its addiction to gas expansion in Canberra last May, a group of Pacific Islanders took to parliament lawns calling for a renewable energy transition instead – both domestically and within the Pacific region. Climate Minister Chris Bowen’s recent visit to the Pacific indicated that Australia’s direction, at least in terms of a Pacific energy transition, could be looking positive. On this four-nation tour, Australia committed $16.4 million to upgrade Palau’s electricity network and shift to renewable energy. This includes the 15MW Palau Solar Farm, one of the Pacific’s largest solar power projects. However, President Surangel Whipps Jr of Palau has made it clear that a “Pacific COP” would require more than renewable energy investments. It would call on Australia to address its gas addiction and position as one of the top-three fossil fuel exporters in the world.

The issue of Australia’s coal and gas exports is the stain on Australia’s potential climate legacy. Even as Australia courts Pacific leaders in their bid for COP31, Environment Minister Murray Watt recently approved the extension of the Woodside’s North West Shelf gas plant, one of the world’s biggest fossil gas projects, prolonging its life from 2030 to 2070. The extension is expected to be responsible for about 87.9m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year in the decades ahead. Acts of hypocrisy like this make it increasingly difficult to trust Australia as a partner to Pacific peoples, as continued fossil fuel exports exacerbate climate disasters across our islands.

So as we skate dangerously close to the 1.5 degree target set in Paris, we cannot allow the next five years to be where we lose our fight against the climate crisis. Australia’s current emissions reduction target of 43% by 2030 is woefully short of what’s required to keep global heating below 1.5 degrees, and predictions of its revised emissions target due this year are still unclear. As a potential COP host within this critical timeframe, Australia has the opportunity and responsibility to up its climate game significantly – but only by listening to Pacific co-hosts and following our lead.

We have dreams and pathways for a Pacific free from fossil fuels and climate catastrophe, and we are actively trying to secure the resources and relationships to make that a reality. We have employed everything at our disposal to realise this dream, from diplomacy to litigation to grassroots activism. It is clear that both history and international law are on our side. What remains to be seen is how Australia responds to the role they’ve been cast in the story of our survival.

Author: Fenton Lutunatabua, 350.org Deputy Head of Regions and founder of the Pacific Climate Warriors.

Photo: ABC News

The post An international court ruling, proof that the world can follow the Pacific’s lead on climate action appeared first on Climate Council.

Climate Council Preliminary Analysis, “Obligations of the States in Respect of Climate Council”.

The advice shows:

1. Countries have very strong obligations under international law to cut climate pollution and prevent significant harm to the global climate that sustains human life. 

The Court refers both to climate treaties and other bodies of international law.

2. Australia is obligated to set strong, science aligned climate targets.

The Court makes clear that it “considers the 1.5°C threshold to be the parties’ agreed primary temperature goal for limiting the global average temperature increase under the Paris Agreement.” It states that countries “Nationally Determined Contribution” (NDC),  which includes the 2035 climate target, must be in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit global temperature increase to 1.5°C. The advice further emphasises that each country must “do its utmost to ensure that the NDCs it puts forward represent its highest possible ambition in order to realize the objectives of the [Paris] Agreement.” 

Yesterday, the Climate Council released the latest scientific data showing that this goal is almost out of reach for Australia due to a decade of delayed action (2013-2022). That research shows net zero by 2035 is the only climate target available to Australia with a strong chance of contributing to holding global warming below 2°C.  However, the Court makes clear that to be aligned with Paris obligations a country’s actions should be consistent with holding warming to 1.5°C. Therefore Australia may be obligated to contribute to global efforts to slash climate pollution as well as take steps at home – for instance building new industries (e.g. green iron) and preventing new fossil fuel projects.

The Federal Government has accelerated climate action in the last three years, including reaching 43% renewable power in Australia’s main grid. The action must now be strengthened to meet our international obligations.

The Australian Government is expected to make its decision on Australia’s 2035 climate target in the coming months. The Court’s advice makes clear that a target should be as strong as possible and accompanied by plans and policies to implement that target. It can further be argued that, to comply with international law, this judgement requires Australia to both set a strong national target and take action on exported emissions to help hold global heating to 1.5°C.

3. On-going production, consumption and granting of licenses and subsidies for fossil fuels could constitute wrongful acts under international law. Wrongful acts may trigger obligations to compensate other countries suffering from climate harm. 

The Court states that: “What constitutes a wrongful act is not the emissions in and of themselves, but actions or omissions causing significant harm to the climate system in breach of a state’s international obligations.”

The Federal Government has argued that Australia is not responsible for the emissions from Australia’s vast exports of coal and gas. The Court disagrees. Australia is one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels, therefore there is a strong case that ongoing support and expansion of Australia’s export industry constitutes “significant harm to the climate system”.

The Court finds that individual countries can still be found responsible, even if it is hard to identify a specific share of harm they have caused. The Court notes that it is “scientifically possible to determine each State’s total contribution to global emissions, taking into account both historical and current emissions.” 

Given Australia has consistently been one of the highest per capita polluters in the world and one of the world’s most prolific fossil fuel exporters, it can also be argued that Australia’s relative share of harm is significant. This will also likely be argued in respect to other countries that are major polluters and fossil fuel exporters.

The Court states that wrongful acts – which could include breaching treaty obligations or failing to regulate climate pollution – under international law could trigger repatriation obligations, including obligations to compensate other countries harmed by climate disasters. 

The Court also finds an obligation for countries to limit climate pollution from private actors in its jurisdiction. This appears to be a broad definition that would apply to fossil fuels production for international or domestic use.

The Court’s advice gives the Australian government reason to consider the totality of Australia’s contribution to climate harm, including our exported climate pollution. In particular, the Court’s decision is pertinent to the Federal Government’s review of Australia’s national environment laws. Currently, when the Federal Environment Minister considers whether to approve new fossil fuel projects there is no provision in the act to consider the climate pollution from that project. Given the Court’s very strong findings, it will be difficult for the Australian government to argue that it has the “highest possible ambition in order to realize the objectives of the [Paris] Agreement”, if it does not reform the environment laws and/or take other substantive measures to prevent the expansion of Australia’s fossil fuel industry.

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From 2027, new homes in Victoria won’t be connected to the gas network. Instead, they’ll be fully electric, powered by clean energy and equipped with efficient appliances like reverse-cycle air conditioners and induction cooktops.

This plan is a big step forward, especially for a state that currently relies more on gas in homes than anywhere else in Australia.

So why does this matter?

Because gas is a fossil fuel, and it’s polluting our homes and planet.

Cooking with gas is estimated to be responsible for up to 12% of the burden of childhood asthma in Australia, and the gas industry’s claims about “clean gas” don’t hold up. It’s mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas that’s making climate change worse.

And the truth is, gas is costing us way more than it should. In 2022, our Switch and Save report found that the average Melbourne household could save around $1,200 a year by going all-electric.

So this plan doesn’t just clean up the air and our climate, it puts money back in people’s pockets too.

What’s in the plan?

The Victorian Government announcement includes:

• Phasing out gas hot water – from March 2027, only efficient electric hot water systems can be installed in Victorian homes. When an existing gas hot water system reaches the end of its useful life, it will have to be replaced with an efficient electric one.

• New buildings to be all-electric – already, new houses that require a planning permit must be all-electric. From January 2027, this will extend to all residential and commercial buildings (with a few logical exceptions, such as large industrial facilities).

• More efficient electric homes for renters and people living in public housing – from March 2027, landlords must begin providing decent insulation, draught-proofing, water saving showerheads, and efficient all-electric appliances for hot water, heating and air conditioning.

• A program to help Victoria’s gas appliance manufacturers upgrade their facilities and reskill their workforce. 

These are the smart, coordinated policies we need to cut climate pollution, protect public health, and protect families from the rising cost of living.

Where to from here?

Victoria is leading the way, and it’s time for other states to step up.

We congratulate the Allan Government on this strong move to help Victorians improve their homes and their health. Now we need other governments to follow Victoria’s lead.

A media release on the Victorian government’s plan to help households get off polluting gas is available.

The post Victoria’s plan to get homes off gas is a win for our climate, our kids, and our hip pockets appeared first on Climate Council.

But the recent approval of Woodside’s massive North West Shelf gas project extension tells a harsher truth. While we may have won important ground, the real fight is still ahead.

Two steps forward, one devastating step back

Approving decades more gas production, while communities on the NSW mid-north coast mop up after record-breaking floods and South Australian farmers battle devastating drought, is not just politically jarring. It’s indefensible.

Having this government approve new fossil fuel projects at the same time as actively campaigning to host next year’s United Nations climate conference (COP31) alongside Pacific nations who are on the front line of climate impacts, is beyond disappointing.

The Albanese Government continues to draw a line between Australia’s domestic emissions and the fossil fuels we export overseas, despite clear scientific evidence that all emissions contribute to the climate crisis, no matter where they’re burned. The reality is: new fossil fuel approvals are incompatible with a safer future.

Still, there are wins to remember

While this is a devastating blow to our climate, we must remember the progress that was made in the 2025 Federal Election.

• Australians decisively rejected the Coalition’s proposal to build nuclear reactors, backing in Labor’s plan for renewable power backed by storage, like big batteries and pumped hydro.
  
• The Albanese Government acknowledges the clear link between climate change and more frequent and intense extreme weather, which previous governments rarely  did.
  
• Labor’s embrace of renewables is strong and growing, they now see it as part of their electoral identity, much like Medicare.
  
• And despite the missed opportunity to block this polluting project, Australia still has the opportunity to begin a necessary phase out of fossil fuels, starting by setting a strong 2035 climate target this year.

What happens now?

We take a deep breath, and keep pushing for what the science says is necessary this decade:

An end to new and expanded coal, oil and gas projects.

• Australia must stop approving new or expanded coal, oil and gas projects. Fossil fuels are driving climate change, regardless of where they’re burned, and continuing expansion puts Australian lives, livelihoods and ecosystems at greater risk.

A plan to phase-out existing coal and gas use and extraction

• The government must develop a clear, science-aligned plan to phase out fossil fuels use and extraction. This must include support for regional communities to transition fairly and create sustainable industries and jobs of the future.

Commit to science-backed climate targets

• To play its fair role in the rapid, sustained emissions reductions required globally, the best science available suggests that Australia must aim to reduce its emissions by 75% below 2005 levels by 2030, and to net zero by 2035. We need climate targets that reflect the urgency of the crisis, not political convenience.

Real leadership on the global stage

• Australia is campaigning to host COP31 with our Pacific neighbours, who are already facing climate change and rising sea levels as an existential threat. True leadership means aligning our action on climate at home with our international promises, especially our commitment to a fossil fuel phase-down.

We are at a critical crossroads. The government’s clean energy ambition is welcome, but it cannot be delivered in parallel with fossil fuel expansion. Every decision we make now either locks in more climate harm or builds a safer future.

Image by John Carney

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The post The North West Shelf Approval Reveals a Stark Truth: Our Climate Fight Is Far From Over appeared first on Climate Council.

And as we head into a federal election campaign, it’s worth thinking about the role of gas in Australia’s energy mix, and why we need to phase it out sooner rather than later.

So here are 5 reasons why Australia needs to break up with gas:

1. Gas is a polluting fossil fuel that’s driving climate change

Gas is a fossil fuel that produces a lot of climate pollution wherever we extract, process and burn it. That pollution from gas (as well as from burning coal and oil) is overheating our planet and driving more intense and frequent unnatural disasters like bushfires, floods and heatwaves.

And yet, a lot of Australians don’t know that gas is a polluting fossil fuel, thanks to a concerted PR campaign from the gas industry to market gas as “natural” and clean. 

From big advertising campaigns designed to mislead the public, to advertorials splashed across the front pages of Australia’s biggest-selling tabloid newspapers, they’re using all the dirty tricks to hoodwink Australians so that they can keep profiteering. 

2. Gas is expensive and building more gas projects won’t help

Gas used to be cheap, but those days are long gone. Now it’s one of the most expensive energy sources and Australians are paying a heavy price for it on their energy bills. That’s because Australian gas companies export almost 80% of our gas overseas. 

Building more gas projects won’t help. That’s because all our cheap options to extract gas are gone, so now new gas is very expensive. New gas projects in Australia have high development costs and struggle to generate returns on capital investment.

3. Australia already has plenty of gas and we don’t need more

Gas has a small, shrinking and short-term role to play in Australia’s energy mix – and we don’t need more of it. Gas from Australia’s existing projects through to 2035 would be enough to power our domestic energy needs for 64 years.

Pursuing new gas projects in Australia will add to our climate pollution crisis. More gas is a bad bet against our kids having a safer future and enjoying a thriving, clean economy.

4. Gas is bad for our health

Gas isn’t just harmful to our climate – it’s damaging to our health as well. Studies have shown that gas cooktops leak harmful toxins into your home, even when they are switched off. In fact, a child living with gas cooking in the home faces a comparable risk of asthma to a child living with household cigarette smoke.

5. Australia can reliably meet our energy needs with renewable power plus storage

Already, about 40% of Australia’s electricity comes from solar, wind and hydro power. That’s doubled in the past six years. Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) tells us that large-scale solar and wind, backed up by storage (massive batteries and hydro power), can provide power to Australians 24/7. We also know that solar is the lowest-cost electricity and building more renewables is the most affordable way to keep the lights on (CSIRO’s GenCost 2024). Plus, since gas appliances are less efficient than electric alternatives, getting off gas can save the average Aussie family $200 per year, increasing to $400 in 10 years time.

So there you have it: it’s time for a clean break with gas—and to go all in on renewables.

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