Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Tony Haymet, discusses climate goals and opportunities – and the national resolve that can help to achieve them  

 

A photo of a calendar. The year 2026 is circled in red ink and the red marker pen sits beside the calendar.

The most significant new year’s resolution we can make this January isn’t cutting carbs – it’s a national effort to cut carbon at greater speed and scale.

The arrival of the new year means Australia now has less than ten years to meet its 2035 emissions target – a national goal to cut greenhouse gases by 62–70% below 2005 levels. Those emissions threaten our economy, our environment and our way of life.

In 2025 Australia cut emissions and laid the groundwork for lasting change. New environmental laws will speed up renewable energy approvals and put more power in the grid. 2025 also brought the National Climate Risk Assessment, the National Adaptation Plan, new vehicle efficiency standards, and mandatory climate risk disclosures for large corporations.

We are making progress and emissions are declining – but we need to move even faster. The pace of emissions reduction must double to meet our legislated 2030 target. And to meet our 2035 goal, the pace must triple by early next decade.

The good news? We are well-equipped to meet this challenge and intensify our emissions cuts in 2026 and beyond. We have ample sunshine, wind, and the minerals needed for the low-carbon transformation that will help secure Australia’s future. We also have the scientific talent and the can-do attitude of the Australian people.

Climate change is intrinsically a people issue. Addressing it means working closely with communities, listening to their concerns, and empowering them to make the energy transition on their terms. By doing that, we foster the social licence essential to tackle the climate challenge.

As part of that, we must highlight the benefits of renewable energy projects, especially in regional areas. We need to ensure the benefits are shared within those regions and we must openly discuss, and mitigate, any potential drawbacks of these projects.

As Australia’s Chief Scientist, I serve on the Climate Change Authority that made recommendations to the Australian Government about the 2035 emissions target and the scale of the climate emergency we face. Among other measures, this year the Authority will focus on ways to cut methane levels, including fossil methane emissions. These damaging greenhouse gases are released during the extraction, processing and transportation of oil, gas and coal. Cutting methane emissions can deliver rapid climate benefits and help counter the global warming that threatens Australia.

Indeed, the climate crisis is reshaping life across the nation, from our oceans to our insurance premiums, and it’s going to get worse. Oceans are not just warming; they are also rising at unprecedented rates and becoming more acidic (less alkaline). Marine heatwaves are fuelling destructive algal blooms, bleaching our coral reefs, supercharging storms, and threatening coastal ecosystems that have sustained communities and industries for generations. Inland problems are equally alarming: heightened flooding, worsening bushfires and rising temperatures.

The world can avoid the harshest impacts of climate change by making deep emissions cuts. For our part, we need decisive and coordinated action to accelerate the necessary transitions across every sector of our economy. Those transitions offer substantial economic opportunities including new jobs in sustainable industries. They will also enable Australia to deliver the materials and products needed in a burgeoning low-carbon global economy.

Whatever resolutions we commit to, and whatever action we take, history will judge our efforts in this critical decade. If we don’t cut carbon with urgency, we impose far greater economic and social costs on our grandchildren and their kids. They will face worsening fires, floods, droughts, algal blooms and sea-level rise – plus significant economic harm and irreversible ecological damage. There will be billions in economic losses, reduced productivity, escalating healthcare costs, and lives shattered by floods, fires and heat.

So, as the new year kicks off, let’s make a national resolution that future generations will thank us for.