The report explains that in order to prevent temperatures from increasing two degrees above pre-industrial levels, no more than 1,500 billion tonnes of carbon pollution can be released by 2050, globally.
For Australia this means we can only release 8 billion tonnes of carbon over the next 40 years.
To put that into perspective, in the 2010/11 financial year, Rio Tinto Coal Australia alone released over 3.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
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“Defining Australia's fair share of the global carbon budget is a complex task, but it is critical if short-term targets are to be set with clear reference to avoiding dangerous climate change.
Australia's current high levels of per capita carbon pollution, which have grown at around twice the global average over recent decades, make this particularly challenging,” said Climate Institute Deputy CEO, Erwin Jackson.
If we continue our current emission levels - four times as much as the average global citizen - the Australian national carbon budget would be consumed in around 15 years.
The carbon budget would define Australia's fair share of the global carbon budget in the long term, said Mr Jackson. This is different from the commitment by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, which aims to release over 4.5 billion tonnes of carbon between 2013-2020, he added.
“Like any budget, the more you spend early on the less you have for later. If targets are set without reference to a long-term and fair national carbon budget, more draconian emissions reductions will be required after 2020 to meet national goals and international commitments," said Mr Jackson.
The report proposes a number, or combination, of carbon budget approaches including a long-term budget, trajectory and target budget, and a short-term budget.
