A blueprint for climate leadership: 1.5-aligned targets for Australia
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The Paris Agreement's first Global Stocktake calls on governments to submit 1.5°C aligned targets. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on climate change further reinforced the centrality of the 1.5°C limit in the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit is critical for protecting the world from the extreme dangers of climate change. The July 2025 report from Australia's Climate Change Authority on the Great Barrier Reef, for instance, found the 1.5°C limit was key to its survival, whereas tropical reefs face near-complete loss if global warming reaches 2°C.
The science is clear: in order to keep warming as close as possible to 1.5˚C, it is critical that countries aim to get to net zero CO2 emissions, at the latest by 2050. The solutions are also clear: it is both technologically and economically feasible to make the rapid changes needed. The main barriers to this are political, not scientific.
This applies to all countries and perhaps even more so for a developed country bidding to host COP31 in 2026: Australia. This report outlines a science-based analysis of what Australia needs to include in its new NDC to align with global efforts to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit.