France urges Abbott to meet global warming commitment

The French government is urging Australia to stick to an international commitment to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.

The appeal comes just a week before Prime Minister Tony Abbott sits down for talks with French president Francois Hollande in Paris, where climate is expected to be among the top issues discussed.
French ambassador to Australia Christophe Lecourtier told the ABC that France, which will host the pivotal UN Summit on Climate later this year, wanted Australia to put an "ambitious" commitment on the table sooner rather than later.

"Your country is a very influential country in the Asia Pacific region and you know that climate change is having tremendous consequences in the region," he said.
"We do believe Australia has a very important role to play during this conference, first of all because Australia has always been a strong promoter of the fight against climate change.
"Keeping temperature increase below two degrees in the coming years is a commitment and it's the commitment of 196 countries, so we do believe that it's the ultimate ambition for the world community if we want to leave a liveable planet for the next generation."

But it is unclear if the Federal Government remains committed to keeping long-term temperature rises below the two degree goal as agreed in Cancun in 2010.

The website for the Department of Foreign Affairs states that "governments agreed that emissions need to be reduced to ensure global temperature increases are limited to below two degrees Celsius".

However, the Federal Government's issues paper for the post 2020 targets released two weeks ago made no mention of the two degree goal.

Its Energy White Paper released last week highlighted the economic opportunities from predicted increases in fossil fuel use that the International Energy Agency forecasted could lead to a temperature increase of up to four degrees.

The Climate Action Tracker predicts that on current trends, the global mean temperature is expected to rise between 2.9 and 5.2 degrees Celsius by 2100.

When asked by the ABC, neither the Foreign Minister nor the Environment Minister would directly respond to the question of "whether Australia remains committed to the goal of keeping long-term temperature rises below two degrees".

Government to launch first auctions of Emissions Reduction Fund

On Wednesday the Government's flagship climate policy Direct Action gets underway with the first auction of the $2.5 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).

However, some analysts believe the scheme is likely to fall short of meeting Australia's 2020 targets.

Hugh Grossman from RepuTex said, at best, the scheme will get Australia halfway there.
"[As] a best case scenario we see the Emissions Reduction Fund purchasing about 50 per cent of Australia's abatement task - about 120 million tonnes - ... at worst, the ERF will purchase around 20 per cent," he said.

Former Liberal leader John Hewson does not believe that directly purchasing carbon though the ERF is the most effective and economically sound way for Australia to meet its 2020 targets.

"Basically what this policy does is pay people who should otherwise be cutting their pollution, to cut their pollution, some of the big polluters I don't think can believe their luck," he said.
"I'm an economist, I believe in the price system, obviously the price is the most efficient, most cost effective way to do it."

Dr Hewson said Australia's approach to climate policy was out of step with the international community.

"I don't think we can sustain a position as a laggard internationally when the world is going to move towards a pretty broad-based agreement by the end of this year at the Paris meeting," he said.
"I think the pressure on us to perform as a responsible part of that is going to be very significant."