Australia has offered an emissions reduction target for the Paris talks that is significantly below that of the European Union and which even falls short of the United States target. Australia needs to re-engage with the rest of the world, which is increasingly aware of the impact of dangerous climate change. It is simply too urgent to opt out - we need action now.

The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben, is a former UK Secretary of State for the Environment and is currently the Chairman of the UK’s Climate Change Committee and Special Advisor to the United Nations on Carbon Pricing. His sixteen years of top-level ministerial experience also included Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minster for London, Employment Minister and Paymaster General in HM Treasury.