Australia to claim success on climate target, with help of accounting rules

Analysis indicates Australia's ability to show it has met the requirements for its 2020 emissions target will make the challenges more difficult in the years ahead

Australia will use "accounting rules" to tell the Paris climate summit it has met its greenhouse gas reduction targets even though its carbon pollution is increasing, an analysis has confirmed.

The environment minister, Greg Hunt, announced via the Australian newspaper last week that Australia would reveal at the UN meeting in Paris that it had already met its target to reduce emissions by 5% by 2020, compared with 2000 levels.