If not now, when? Australia must urgently ramp up climate action following record-breaking year

With Earth’s climate heading into uncharted territory, Australia and other high-emission nations must take drastic action to stop climate change impacts becoming irreversible, according to a world-leading expert from The Australian National University (ANU) and climate advisor to the United Nations (UN). 

Professor Mark Howden, who will deliver his final State of the Climate address at the 2025 ANU Climate Update, will argue ambitious targets set by the Commonwealth and state governments to stamp out fossil fuel use and accelerate uptake of clean energy technologies is not translating into sufficient action. 

Professor Howden, who is the Director of the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS), said Australia has the means and resources to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions at low cost and become a global leader in renewable energy and climate adaptation. 

“2024 was the hottest year on record globally, and the first calendar year where the average global temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above its pre-industrial level. The world is on the cusp of failing to deliver on one of the major objectives outlined in the Paris Agreement, and now we are paying the price of escalating impacts,” Professor Howden, who is also Vice-Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said. 

“Not only was 2024 the hottest year on record, but each of the last 10 years are the hottest 10 years on record – the change is unrelenting. Record heat is dramatically changing how water moves around the planet, accelerating the global water cycle and amplifying climate extremes which are contributing to more ferocious floods, including in Queensland, and devastating droughts. 

“There is no question about the speed and significance of the temperature increases we’re seeing and that they are unequivocally driven by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. This is also evident through the deadly LA fires. 

“Unfortunately, we are moving further and further outside the envelope of our previous climate. We’re now in uncharted territory, and with that uncharted territory comes new and larger risk from climate extremes, changes in averages such as winter rainfall and consequences of sea-level rise. 

“We’ve known enough about climate change for at least 20 years to warrant a lot more action to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change. The science is not the limiting factor here. 

“We also know that public concern is not the limiting factor to accelerating climate action in Australia. Ninety per cent of Australians want more action on climate change, which is very similar to the global number. But this is not trickling through to government and industry policy and action. 

“At the Commonwealth and state level, for example, we have very significant targets for emission reduction, especially in Queensland. However, if we take out the land-use change component, our emissions are flatlining, the obverse of what the science, economics and public opinion tell us what is rational and desired. So that says to me that we need increased emphasis on policy implementation and integration. 

“Australia has the means and resources to adapt to climate change to lessen the escalating risks. But we’re not implementing those options to the extent that we could, or even to the extent that we rationally should.” 

Professor Howden will use the Climate Update to discuss the array of factors that are holding back climate action in Australia and globally, as well as those that are pushing it forward. 

“It is very clear now; the worst thing we can do is not act on climate change. The best thing we can do is take rapid and effective action. That is what reduces total costs and increases benefits. If we don’t act now, then when?” Professor Howden said. 

The 2025 ANU Climate Update takes place in-person at Llewellyn Hall and online from 5-7pm on Thursday 13 February. This will be Professor Howden’s final Climate Update before stepping down as the Director of ICEDS (formerly known as the Climate Change Institute) later this year after 10 years in the role at ANU. 

Media are welcome to attend the event either in-person or online and can register by emailing media@anu.edu.au.