Antinuclear

A climate change advocate has scored the climate policies of the major policies, marking down the coalition as a fail but with Labor scraping through with a pass mark.

The Greens, however, scored a high distinction.

“Of the two major parties, Labor is miles ahead of the coalition on climate commitments, but neither party is doing enough to make Australians safe from climate damage,” Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy warned.

Given the importance of the response to climate change in the 2019 election campaign, the ACF assessed the policies on 50 key tests across four broad areas before giving each a score out of 100.

These areas included ramping up renewables, phasing out coal, stopping Adani’s coalmine and protecting nature.

The scorecard gives the Greens’ policies 99/100 and Labor 56/100, but the coalition just 4/100.

“The coalition’s signature climate policy – the emissions reduction fund – has not curbed Australia’s climate pollution,” Ms O’Shanassy said handing down the scorecard on Monday.

“For the coalition to again offer this ineffective policy as its main plan to tackle climate change shows a disregard for farmers, survivors of natural disasters fuelled by global warming and the next generation of Australians.”

Meanwhile, the ACF believes while Labor has put forward a credible framework for cutting climate pollution and growing the renewable energy sector, it is only halfway to full marks because of its blind spot on coal and gas.

In particular, Labor hasn’t (established) plans to phase out coal-fired power and hasn’t ruled out the Adani mine,” Ms O’Shanassy.

However, the policies the Greens are taking to the election reflect the urgency of action that scientific bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say is needed to keep global warming at relatively safe levels, she added.