BONN, Germany (Reuters) — Australia and New Zealand say they face unusually high costs to cut greenhouse gas emissions because of their respective dependence on coal and livestock.
The defence came after criticism that they are doing too little to tackle climate change.
More than 50 nations representing 70 percent of world emissions have submitted strategies to the United Nations for curbs on emissions beyond 2020, which are meant to be the building blocks of a United Nations climate deal due to be reached in Paris in December.
Australia, giving details of a plan issued last month, said its relatively strong economic growth, a rising population and dependence on coal for 64 percent of electricity generation made it costly to rein in emissions.
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“We think it is an ambitious target,” Australian climate ambassador Peter Woolcott told delegates at week-long talks in Bonn of a goal to reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
New Zealand’s climate ambassador, Jo Tyndall, the only other developed nation representative at the same session, said her country’s dependence on dairy farming and sheep was a big source of the greenhouse gas methane, which is produced by the animals’ digestive tracts.
The New Zealand target submitted in July of cutting emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 “would represent quite a significantly higher cost to our economy” than action by many other countries, she said.
Still, a Climate Action Tracker, run by a group of scientists, has ranked both countries’ plans “inadequate,” along with plans by developed nations such as Japan and Canada.
It has given a slightly better rating of medium to the United States and the European Union.
The United States, for instance, plans to cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, five years earlier than Australia.
A problem is that there is no UN mechanism to assess which nations are doing most, or least, to rein in global warming, which the UN panel of climate experts says is causing more heat waves, droughts and rising sea levels.
Some nations want the Paris summit to agree on a strict set of reviews for every plan.
