SYDNEY, Thursday 18 September 2025— Greenpeace Australia Pacific has branded the Albanese government's new 2035 climate target as weak, dangerous and drastically short of what's needed to meet the urgency of the climate crisis, exposing communities across Australia and the Pacific to worsening climate disasters.
Responding to today's announcement, Greenpeace said the Australian Government's new climate plan is not science-aligned, and undermines global action under the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5C — the line in the sand for averting the most severe and irreversible climate impacts.
Greenpeace also states the government's climate plan is not credible without a timeline to rapidly phase out fossil fuels, given it continues to greenlight new and extended coal and gas projects including those with projected lifespans extending to 2070. Greenpeace also points to the recent landmark, Pacific-led victory at the International Court of Justice that ruled under international law, states are now obligated to align their climate plans with the 1.5C target under the Paris Agreement.
Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: "The Albanese government's new climate plan is an affront to communities across the Pacific and Australia facing the escalating impacts of dangerous climate change.
"It prioritises fossil fuel profits and business interests over people, and effectively abandons our commitment under the Paris Agreement to collectively limit global heating to 1.5C — a temperature goal that is non-negotiable for Pacific nations staring down the barrel of climate catastrophe. For us Pasifika people, this is a matter of existence for many of our communities.
"The government sat on its Climate Risk Assessment for months, knowing it laid bare the dire consequences of soaring climate pollution — consequences not measured in degrees of warming, but in the terrifying human toll and biodiversity loss facing our communities.
"It means homes and lands inundated by floods and rising seas; prolonged droughts and severe heatwaves decimating our agriculture and fisheries; the places and wildlife we love ravaged by infernoes; our unique cultures and ways of life eroded.
"As one of the world's largest fossil fuel exporters, Australia has a responsibility to submit a science-backed and world-leading plan that will keep communities safe.
That must include the timeline for phasing out fossil fuels, and ending its toxic relationship with polluting corporations like Woodside and Santos who are doubling-down on coal, oil and gas extraction and undermining climate action.
"Today the government has chosen coal and gas profits over the safety of Pacific and Australian communities. Australia wants to co-host COP31 in genuine partnership with the Pacific. Then show it with actions, not words. And these actions of real climate leadership need to happen now."
