Even if we give Angus Taylor and the federal government the benefit of doubt and assume they are right about Australia being on course to meet its carbon emissions reduction target, he and his Coalition colleagues can take no credit for this ("Taylor claims Paris progress", December 7-8). The government’s own energy department attributes our reductions to growing contributions of large-scale renewable energy projects and higher than previously estimated uptake of rooftop solar panels. Any reductions we are seeing are thanks to independent, forward-thinking organisations and individuals investing in fossil-free energy despite the lack of leadership from our politicians.

Paul Attfield, Mount Colah

As Australia burns, Taylor’s emissions response is risible, even contemptuous. The Paris Agreement calls for the “highest possible ambition” in nations, but we try the lowest possible to get away with it. Not only is our target woefully low, but the fact we want to weaken it greatly by carry-over credits speaks volumes. Any carry-over weakens action in the next period, but what's worse is our credits are dodgy: from setting ourselves deliberately weak targets in the Kyoto period (an 8 per cent increase from 1990-2012 versus an 8 per cent decrease by the EU bloc, say) to ‘hot air’ credits from sleight of hand on land clearing known infamously as the Australia Clause. Working hard to slow the accumulation of emissions or creative accounting with dodgy credits to appear to meet a low target on paper? Sadly, it is the latter.

Nick Wilson, Palm Beach

Is this the Angus Taylor who cannot read a printout of figures from Sydney City Council? Frankly, I am inclined instead to believe the ANU report, which reveals that, despite a certain amount of data-shuffling, the emissions trend is still going up.

Nola Tucker, Kiama