Climate change: Environment Minister rejects top scientists' advice on phasing out coal, after UN's warning

Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price has argued some of the world's leading climate scientists are "drawing a long bow" in calling for an end to coal power in a bid to limit global warming. Key points: United Nations' IPCC warns that global gas emissions must reach zero by 2050 to stop global warming at 1.5 degrees Environment Minister suggests the 91 scientists behind the report got it wrong The Federal Government maintains it will meet its commitment to the Paris climate agreement In a special report released yesterday, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said global greenhouse gas emissions must reach zero by about 2050 in order to stop global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Price argues Australia can still meet carbon targets The Federal Government maintains it will meet its commitment under the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions by 28 per cent from 2005 levels, even though the IPCC report suggested it would need to be closer to 45 per cent. "It showed that over the last 12 months there's been a slight increase, but the most important thing in that report is that electricity emissions have declined by 13.9 per cent in the year to March 2018," Ms Price said.