On the occasion of the Albanese Government officially raising Australia's 2030 emission reduction target from 26-28% to 43%, Australian Conservation Foundation CEO Kelly O'Shanassy said:
"ACF welcomes the meaningful increase to Australia's national 2030 emission reduction target from the previous government's 26-28% to 43%.
"This represents around 100 million tonnes of additional reduction in emissions this decade - the equivalent of taking 20 million cars off the road or planting 1.5 billion trees to store carbon.
"This is a new dawn and a meaningful boost to the action Australia will take to slash greenhouse emissions this decade and to do our bit towards addressing global warming.
"A new dawn marks the start of the day, not the end of the story.
"ACF acknowledges this leap forward and wants to support the new government on the journey. We know today's welcome pit stop is not Australia's final destination.
"The government can now get on with the nation-building opportunities to cut climate pollution to reach this target and go further.
"We encourage the government to set a review and ratchet mechanism for the climate target so Australia's climate ambition increases.
"Last month's election result shows what happens when you choose to lead on climate action.
"Climate damage is here now and Australians are suffering from extreme weather, fires and floods.
"We do need to do more to prevent the worst climate damage. Today is a big leap forward and represents real progress.
"We will need to keep raising climate ambition and action over coming years to do our fair share for a safe climate.
"Right now, the most important thing is climate action - we can't afford to waste any more time."
