Tension within the Liberal and National parties over the coalition’s net zero emissions target for 2050 has spilled over into the federal election campaign, with representatives making contradictory claims about whether the goal constitutes a binding commitment.
The coalition agreed to the target ahead of a November 2021 commitment from Prime Minister Scott Morrison in time for the COP26 climate conference.
However, in an ABC radio interview on April 25, Queensland LNP candidate Colin Boyce described the government’s net zero plan as 'flexible' with 'wiggle room', adding Mr Morrison’s statement was 'not binding (and) there will be no legislation attached to it'.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce later said Mr Boyce’s view that the target was not binding was 'completely understandable', adding that the coalition would 'try and meet' the goal.
North Sydney Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman pushed back, telling The Australian the government’s net zero by 2050 target was a 'binding commitment which the government should and will honour'.
But the claim that the target is binding is flawed. While Australia’s target has been formally submitted to the United Nations and cannot be reduced under the terms of the Paris Agreement, experts say it is not legally binding and there is no mechanism for enforcing the goal. The target has also not been legislated in Australia.
AAP FactCheck contacted Mr Zimmerman’s office for information on the basis of his claim but received no response.
He is one of a number of sitting Liberals facing challenges from so-called 'teal' independent candidates, who are advocating for stronger action to combat climate change, to make similar claims about the government’s net zero target.
Fellow Sydney MP Jason Falinski also told The Australian the target was 'binding and it is not flexible', adding that the government had 'signed an agreement with the United Nations to make net zero by 2050'.
'There are reporting structures and frameworks around that and accountability measures as well,' he said.
Another Sydney MP, Dave Sharma, previously claimed to have 'delivered a binding commitment to net zero emissions by 2050'.
As part of its net zero pledge, Australia formally submitted the target to the UN with what is known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
Professor Jacqueline Peel, an international environment law expert at the University of Melbourne, told AAP FactCheck in an email that 'it is mandatory for parties like Australia to communicate a NDC and to review/revise that progressively'.
NDCs must be submitted to the UN every five years. The Paris Agreement sets out that each NDC 'will represent a progression beyond the party’s then current nationally
