‘There is a target’: Government still has eyes on emissions reduction despite PM’s backflip
Sweeping changes have been made to the government’s flagship energy policy as the Prime Minister desperately defends his leadership.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has scrapped emissions reduction targets from the National Energy Guarantee, conceding he lacks support for the plan.
Previously, the NEG aimed to abide by a target of 26 per cent, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Despite Mr Turnbull’s decision to dump legislating the targets, Resources Minister Matt Canavan says the government is still “targetting a reduction”.
Senator Canavan says the government is “seeking to respond” to carbon emissions but won’t be able to do it through the NEG.
“There is a target, we’re going to have to find other ways of meeting that.
“What we signed up for in Paris was a 26 per cent reduction across our economy.
“We had proposed to apply this and do this in the energy sector and the electricity sector… through the legislation we’re discussing.
“As I said, we’re not going to be able to put that in place at this stage, but we’re still making progress on this target.”
He says, on current projections, we’re on track to reduce emissions by 24 per cent by 2030.
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