Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has played down the significance of China unveiling its post-2020 emissions reduction target, saying Beijing’s position has been known “for some time”.



The world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 60-65% from 2005 levels, and increase the share of non-fossil fuels as part of its primary energy consumption to about 20% by 2030.

China’s commitment, which should result in its emissions peaking by 2030, is an important precursor to global climate change talks in Paris later this year. The commitment is consistent with a joint undertaking China made with the United States last November.

Australian climate groups on Wednesday welcomed China’s commitment, characterising it as a significant step forward by the most important player in the developing world.

But Bishop played down the milestone. “I think China’s position has been known for some time. Indeed China and the United States announced this aspiration some time ago,” Bishop told Sky News on Wednesday.

“China says its emissions will peak in 2030. Well that coincides with when its economy is likely to peak.”

Australia is yet to reveal its post-2020 target. The Abbott government is expected to unveil its initial position for the United Nations process in July.

Bishop said Australia, unlike some other countries, had proposed a concrete 2020 emissions reduction target, and she said she was confident Australia would meet its commitment.

A range of experts have queried whether the Coalition’s Direct Action policy will be sufficient for Australia to meet the 2020 target. The government has consistently rebuffed that analysis.

Bishop said the new post-2020 target would be “economically responsible, proportionate and, I believe, appropriate for Australia” – and it would take into account commitments offered by other nations before the Paris talks.

But climate groups warned Australia risked lagging behind. “With China’s announcement overnight, countries accounting for over half of global emissions will have declared their initial targets for post-2020 pollution reduction,” the Climate Institute’s chief executive, John Connor, said on Wednesday.

Connor said South Korea had this week released “more ambitious targets than expected, citing global responsibility as well as new business and innovation possibilities”.

“Australia risks getting caught in the backwash of global climate action and economic modernisation if it sticks with laggards like Canada,” Connor said. “The tests of our soon-to-be released post-2020 target are primarily climate credibility but also carbon competitiveness.”

Frank Jotzo, the director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy, said China’s announcement meant it was time for other countries to get serious.

“The US and EU emissions pledges will probably require less effort than what China is embarking on,” Jotzo said.

“For Australia, the question what national target to offer is increasingly one of avoiding too much embarrassment by being out of step. Anything less than the US emissions target will be difficult to justify.”

Samantha Smith, the leader of WWF’s global climate and energy initiative, said China was proposing a significant contribution.

“This is the first major developing country emitter to set a total emissions peak target. In doing so, China has committed to both global climate security and to a transformational energy transition at home,” Smith said.

On Monday a coalition of business, welfare and environment groups, and trade unions called for the Abbott government to produce credible emissions reduction commitments.