Sydney, 3 November 2015– Responding to the scheduled entry into force of the Paris climate agreement on 4 November 2015, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Chief Executive Officer David Ritter said:
“The Paris agreement is a historic milestone for nations working together to end the fossil fuel era and provide a path to a healthy future for our planet. But it needs to be followed with real and decisive action from our leaders - especially here in Australia.
“Signatures on a document are not enough. The targets in the agreement are very ambitious, and can only be met if the vast majority of Australian coal, oil and gas is left unmined and unburned.
“The question for Malcolm Turnbull is: Will we keep our promise to the world?”
On the Paris goal to reduce global emissions by 2030, Greenpeace International Executive Director, Jennifer Morgan, said: “If we miss this window because we’re stuck with weak national targets, it will quickly close and we’ll be left with big costs, big risks and big question marks. The only choice is to act now.”
Carbon emissions from the world’s existing operational fossil fuel reserves would already exceed the Paris agreement’s upper target of a 2 degree Celsius temperature increase limit, making any new fossil fuel projects in Australia or elsewhere entirely incompatible with global climate targets.*
*The Sky’s Limit: Why the Paris climate goals require a managed decline of fossil fuel production. Oil Change International. 22 September 2016.