Climate Department Confirms There Are No Penalties for Missing Paris Targets

‘That’s not the way the Paris Agreement works,’ said Department Acting Deputy Secretary Kushla Munro.

Exhaust rises from the main chimneys of the coal-fired power plant Heizkraftwerk Reuter West in Berlin, Germany, on July 31, 2007. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Department has confirmed that there are no financial penalties for failing to meet Paris Agreement targets.

At a recent budget estimate hearing, representatives from the Department reported that Australia’s carbon emissions were currently at 28 percent below 2005 levels, after a slight increase in emissions in the last two years.