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Pledges to cut emissions made by Joe Biden, the US president-elect, and China have helped put the world “within striking distance” of meeting the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change, a report says. If governments fulfil all their promises to become carbon neutral within 30 or 40 years, the global temperature increase could be limited to 2.1C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, according to the assessment by two not-for-profit research groups.

The G20 will miss the 1.5°C warming target set out in the Paris Agreement, according to the Climate Transparency report published on Wednesday (18 November). “The implementation of current targets will lead to a 2.7°C temperature rise by the end of the century. There is a substantial gap. The question is how do we close that gap and how do we move towards 1.5°C,” said Deborah Ramalope, team leader for policy analysis at Climate Analytics.

Australia's climate policies have been put under the spotlight ahead of a G20 virtual summit, with the nation urged to boost its plan to address environmental impacts. "The Australian government has few policies to address these issues, and its international reputation is at stake" - Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics.

Australia is one of only two countries in the G20 not implementing or planning any sort of carbon price scheme, one of only four without a national policy to increase renewable energy and ranks last in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from transport, a new global report has found. “When measured up against other G20 nations, the Australian government’s record is simply embarrassing” - Ursula Fuentes-Hutfilter, a senior policy adviser with Climate Analytics, which contributed to the report.

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to begin the process of rejoining the Paris agreement with the stroke of a pen. As important as this will be, a more significant demonstration of Biden’s determination to rejoin the international fight against climate change will come in the form of the target the United States then puts on the table as its contribution toward meeting the goals of the agreement - op-ed by Australia's former PM Kevin Rudd and CEO of Climate Analytics Bill Hare.

The U.S.-China relationship is at its lowest point in a half century, but there are also converging interests on global warming. How effectively the two biggest economies - and sources of the climate problem - can pivot their economies away from fossil fuels is crucial to stemming global warming. An analysis by two research organizations, the Asia Society Policy Institute and Climate Analytics, to be issued next week but reviewed by The New York Times, concludes that China would have to peak its carbon emissions by 2025, five years earlier than the country has promised, and phase out coal by 2040 in order to keep global temperatures close to the upper limits laid out in the Paris Agreement.

Australia could become a carbon neutral economy by 2050 thanks to an abundance of cheap solar and wind energy but will need a more ambitious 2030 climate target to get there, according to a report from international climate policy experts (Climate Action Tracker). “So many of the policies that have proven to be effective in similar places are not in place in Australia, but if they were it could escalate the transition. It is hard to find a country where the policy gap is so large” - lead author of the report Ursula Fuentes Hutfilter, Climate Analytics.

New analysis published by the Climate Action Tracker initiative has detailed how Australia could take action on climate change consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, in a way that would leave it economically stronger, and with gas not needed as a transition fuel. “We show how this is feasible. But it needs real climate policy across all sectors of the economy. An important first step to achieving this is a planned and managed phase out of coal from power generation by 2030” - Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics.

The $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund will be debated in the House of Representatives on Wednesday amid a debate over the future of fossil fuels.Labor and environmental groups have argued the laws are flawed as funding could flow through to gas and coal projects. The Climate Action Tracker report by international climate science and policy institute Climate Analytics says that coal-fired power can be phased out by 2030 in a planned and regulated process to enable a just transition - using renewables and advanced storage - without gas.

The election of Joe Biden to the White House is likely to see Australia increasingly isolated as the world heads to net zero emissions, with quite fundamental implications for our economy. Australia needs a forward-looking strategy aimed at taking advantage of its massive natural advantages in renewable energy and the resources essential for the low and zero carbon transition, and one that provides for a just transition for the communities and workforces affected by the rapid reduction in the markets that they have hitherto dependent upon. There is no time to be lost dithering, denying and obfuscating - op-ed by Climate Analytics CEO, Bill Hare.