Australia will aim to be a constructive delegate at the UN climate conference Cop 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November and distance itself from other fossil fuel exporters that have often stymied progress at previous meetings. The change in Australia's engagement at Cop reflects the election of the Labor government in May after nine years of a conservative coalition administration that prioritised policies to support further exports of thermal coal and LNG, rather than addressing the issue of climate change. The Labor government has so far set itself apart from its predecessors by legislating a deeper cut to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 to a 43pc reduction from 2005, compared with the coalition's target of a 26-28pc reduction. Australia is one of the few developed countries to have updated its 2030 nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the UN's 2015 Paris climate accord, as requested in the Glasgow pact made at Cop 26 last year. But the new target still falls short of the 75pc cut needed to help limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, which was advocated by the minority Green party and many independent members of parliament ahead of the elections in May.
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