Stop Australia's Kyoto loophole
Australia’s emissions from electricity, transport and industrial production are still rising.
Having chosen far less ambitious emission reduction targets than other countries in the past, Australia is now not only claiming to have ‘overachieved' on those weak targets, but is also seeking to use so-called 'carryover' Kyoto credits to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement. This is no more than an accounting trick.
Most of the claimed ‘overachievement’ derives directly from the fact that Australia had substantial domestic deforestation emissions in 1990. It would be perverse to reward Australia in 2030 for the existence of large-scale deforestation that took place forty years earlier. Yet Australia is claiming it will meet its Paris Agreement commitment to reduce emissions by 26-28 per cent by relying on the use of 'carryover' Kyoto credits.
There is currently no legal basis for the ‘carryover’ of pre-2021 units from the Kyoto Protocol for use under the Paris Agreement. The Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement are separate treaties.
Australia's plans to use 'carryover' Kyoto credits undermines the goals and principles of the Paris Agreement and would only encourage other countries to follow suit.
Add your name to the open letter --
To the Prime Minister of Australia --
We urge you to scrap Australia's plan to use a dodgy accounting trick, the so-called 'carryover' Kyoto credits, to meet Australia's Paris Target.
Research shows there is no scientific, moral or legal foundation for the Australian Government’s determination to gain credit for its historic recalcitrance.
It is antithetical to the goals and principles of the Paris Agreement and would only undermine global action to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees.
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