Australia ‘not giving up’ on Paris climate agreement despite Trump withdrawal, Bowen says
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But climate change and energy minister says government will not announce its 2035 emissions target before election. Australia’s climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, is “not giving up” on the Paris climate agreement despite US president Donald Trump moving to pull the world’s second largest polluter out of the global accord.
Bowen made the comments as the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, all but ruled out withdrawing from Paris if he won the federal election in 2025, suggesting such a move would damage trading relationships and cost jobs. Trump signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the agreement within hours of his inauguration on Monday, as he moved swiftly to implement policies to accelerate fossil fuel production.
The pivot from a pro-climate agenda under Joe Biden – who rejoined the Paris accord after Trump withdrew in his first presidential term – will have implications for the fight to limit global temperature rise to below 2C. Asked on Thursday if Trump’s return to the White House would put the Paris targets out of reach, Bowen said: “We’re not giving up on that”.
“Every little inch of difference from 1.5 [C] makes a huge difference. So it’s appropriate that the world keeps working towards it,” he said. The minister insisted Labor would not adjust the pace or ambition of Australia’s green energy transition in light of Trump’s policies, as he announced a $2bn injection for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation – the government-owned green bank – to invest in renewables projects.
