Bill Shorten pledges to reveal Labor’s stand on pollution cut by next election

Opposition leader Bill Shorten promised to reveal his party’s stand on pollution cut by the next federal election, even though he said the party would not be committing to a post-2020 target to bring down the levels of carbon pollution. The assurance came following an announcement by the Coalition government that it would aim at reducing the emission levels at 2005, up to 28 percent by 2030.

Labor has argued that the target is not adequate for reducing global warming by two degrees Celsius. Mark Butler, the Labor spokesperson for environment, said that the party has still not decided a target of its own. “The benchmark for us is the commitment that our generation has made to our children and our grandchildren's generation,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. “We must keep global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius.”

Reportedly, Labor will take into consideration a recommendation by Climate Change Authority for implementing a 40-60 percent cut in emissions along with other analysis and models. Butler also promised that by the next election, the position of Labor would be clear.

Shorten criticised Prime Minister Tony Abbott for resorting to politics alone in deciding the target for emission reduction. “But he offers no scientific evidence for the constructiveness of what he is doing to help tackle global warming,” he said. The United Nations conference on Climate Change, to be held at the end of the year, occupies an important position in Shorten’s list of priorities for the year. He has also advised the prime minister to do likewise. But since Julie Bishop is the foreign minister of the country, it is she who is expected to represent Australia at the conference, unless more world leaders decide to partake in it.

Abbott, on the other hand, insists that the plans outlined by the government is in the same line with other nations and would not be hampering growth or affecting employment during the process.

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