From Peter Newman - Climate Target Announcement
Gabrielle Dean
Begin forwarded message:
From: Peter Newman <P.Ne...@curtin.edu.au>
Date: 18 September 2025 at 11:51:36 am AWST
To: Peter Newman <P.Ne...@curtin.edu.au>
Subject: FW: Climate Target Announcement
The target of 62-70% continues the positive commitment to net zero that began with the 42% target when they began in office 5 years ago. Its most important guideline was to remain ‘achievable and investible’ in terms of the Australian economy. This is consistent with a global 20C rise in average temperature and that will be hard times for the world, but not devastating times if the 30C option had been unleashed as is happening in the US.
The good news is that this announcement comes on the same day that coal and oil companies were announcing how investment was on the run from new fossil fuel projects. Our recent paper in The Conversation shows why this is happening as solar energy is dramatically displacing their markets. It shows that ‘achievable and investible’ is rapidly changing due to the exponential adoption of solar, batteries and EV’s, and this may mean that we will see not just 70% achieved by 2035 but a figure well beyond this. The simple global picture of the trends has been shown in the figure below. This more hopeful approach is also outlined in my new book published today by Edward Elgar in London.
<image001.png>Peter
Professor Peter Newman AO
John Curtin Distinguished Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute,
School of Design and the Built Environment
Curtin University
Tel | +61 8 9266 9032
Fax | +61 8 9266 9031
Mobile 0407935133
Email | p.ne...@curtin.edu.auWeb | www.sustainability.curtin.edu.au
Profile | researchgate.net/Peter_Newman3