NDC 3.0 Analysis briefs: Australia
Throughout 2025, CAN will release regular briefs evaluating how countries’ new NDCs align with our guidelines for NDC 3.0. You can access all the NDC briefs on the Transformative National Climate Action Plans’s page.
Australia’s NDC: Continued fossil fuel production undermines climate commitments
In a nutsell: how did Australia’s NDC deliver on…
– Fair, economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets: Australia aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 62-70% below 2005 levels by 2035, far below its fair share of a 120-156% reduction, which implies at least 75% domestic emissions reductions and a commitment to international climate finance to support mitigation efforts in developing countries.
– Sectoral objectives: Australia does not commit to a fossil fuel phase-out in its NDC, providing no timeline for oil and gas or coal phase out. It continues to produce coal and gas primarily for export and these Scope 3 exported emissions are not counted towards domestic targets. As a positive, Australia released additional plans (outside of the NDC) for decarbonisation of its six most-emitting sectors.
– Rights-based approach: Though the NDC upholds the need for First Nations leadership on climate action, it fails to reference even minimum standards such as implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) or Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
– Adequate access to good quality financial means: Domestically, Australia’s climate finance approach focuses on de-risking and crowding in private investment, problematically eating into scarce public resources to guarantee private profits.
– New and additional, public grant-based financial resources: Australia’s NDC makes no climate finance commitments beyond 2025. It also claims that it has no intention to use internationally transferred mitigation outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6 on carbon markets, but leaves the door open for future use.
Download the full brief here.
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Download file: http://CAN-I-NDC-Brief-AUSTRALIA.pdf