Australia has been urged to rapidly accelerate its cuts to greenhouse gases, with the independent Climate Change Authority recommending the Abbott government adopt an ambitious 30 per cent reduction target on 2000 levels by 2025.
In a report to be published on Wednesday, the authority has also declared Australia is falling far short of the task required to cut emissions by 2020 if it wants to match the efforts of other countries to halt global warming.
It comes as the world's biggest emitters, including the US and China, were revealed this week to have questioned the credibility of Australia's climate change targets and the Abbott government's direct action policy to pay polluters to reduce emissions.
The Climate Change Authority – an independent body set up by Labor to advise on climate policy – says Australia has no grounds for special pleading for lower targets than other countries as part of a new global climate agreement.
It is also critical of the government for "skipping over" the significance of climate change for future generations in its recent Intergenerational Report, which sets out challenges governments will face in their budgets over the next 40 years.
The authority released its report two months before a government taskforce, set up in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, is expected to hand down its recommendations on what Australia's post-2020 emissions reduction targets should be.
The government will announce Australia's targets mid-year, six months out from a global climate summit in Paris where it is hoped a new climate agreement will be reached.
Climate Change Authority chair Bernie Fraser said on Tuesday that the authority's recommendation for a target of 30 per cent on 2000 levels by 2025 was "broadly comparable with the targets that other wealthy developed countries will be bringing to the table in Paris" to limit global warming to 2 degrees.
"If Australia were to pledge the recommended 30 per cent target at the Paris conference this would likely be considered the behaviour of a good global citizen, and go some way to answering those who have questioned Australia's commitment to climate change policy in recent times," Mr Fraser said.
The authority's report says a target year of 2025 would give Australia flexibility if it had to ramp up its efforts to cut emissions in the years to 2030.
It says Australia should set a target to cut emissions by 40 to 60 per cent on 2000 levels by 2030.
It recommends beefing up Australia's 2020 target to 19 per cent, which would better match global efforts and mean governments would not have to scale up their policies as drastically to cut emissions in the years after.
The report challenges arguments made by the government that because Australia's emissions constitute a small proportion of total global emissions, actions taken by Australia will not make a great difference to the overall global picture.
It states Australia is still the 13th largest emitter in the world at 1.3 per cent of total global emissions.
But with just 0.4 per cent of the world's population Australia is the largest emitter on a per capita basis among developed countries, emitting 27 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person – nearly three times the per capita emissions of Germany.
Mr Fraser said: "The assertion that, as a small emitter, Australia could sit on the sidelines of this particular global contest was always more self-serving than credible.
"To maintain that posture in the light of increasing international actions to reduce emissions – by developed and developing, big and small countries – makes it even less credible."
As the driest continent Australia is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, making it even more important for the government to match the ambition of other countries, the authority said.
The report was given to media outlets ahead of its release on conditions that prevented Fairfax Media from seeking comment from the Abbott government.
