When Australia announces its 2035 emissions target to the world, there will be a unique opportunity to promote Australia’s ambition to help other countries decarbonise through exports of renewable energy-based commodities, while coal and gas exports will fall.
Coal and gas exports from Australia are equivalent to well over a billion tonnes of CO2 when burned in other countries. That is around 3% of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions – far more than Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions at home that the national emissions target applies to.