Here at the 25th UN climate conference in Madrid, Australia’s plan to use leftover Kyoto credits is seen as an attempt to conceal that the government is not trying to meet the Paris target. We could do so much better.

The government expects national emissions in 2030 to be 16 per cent lower than in 2005, the headline Paris target is a 26 per cent reduction. The actual target is framed as an aggregate reduction during the 2020s, nevertheless a large gap remains. This is to be filled with "carry-over credits" from the Kyoto Protocol, the climate treaty that preceded the Paris Agreement.

Whether the Paris rules will allow the use of Kyoto credits is under negotiation right now. A ban is proposed as an option in the latest negotiating text, but it seems unlikely to come through. The Australian government has too much riding on it, and UN decisions are by consensus.

We are the only country planning to “carry over”. Almost all countries that care are opposed to it. It reminds the world of the “Australia clause” which the Howard government pushed through at the 1997 Kyoto summit, allowing Australia to count land-use change reductions. It is what created the Kyoto carry-over credits in the first place.

This article by Prof Frank Jotzo was published by the Sydney Morning Herald - read the full article here.