‘We can’t begin in 2049’: Labor signals more ambitious target for emissions cuts

Chris Bowen will make a clear statement that the Coalition's 2030 emissions target is insufficient

The shadow climate change minister, Chris Bowen, is to send his clearest signal that federal Labor is planning a more ambitious medium-term emissions reduction target than the Coalition, as well as committing to net zero emissions by 2050.

Thursday's public signalling is significant because the veteran rightwinger Joel Fitzgibbon has argued since Bill Shorten's election loss in 2019 that Labor needs to adopt the same 2030 target as the Coalition on the rationale that voters have rejected the party's more ambitious climate policies at every election since 2013.