Opposition party to fight next Australia election on climate

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s opposition Labor Party says a looming election will be fought on greenhouse gas reduction targets as Prime Minister Scott Morrison comes under criticism over the modest goals he will take to a U.N. climate summit. Morrison has been left no room to move on Australia’s 2030 reduction target under a deal struck with his conservative government’s rural-based junior coalition partner. The Nationals have agreed to support the ruling Liberal Party’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 in return for Australia sticking to its 6-year-old target of reducing emissions by only 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.  Before the Scotland summit, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres lamented that a “leadership gap” was undermining efforts to curb global warming.