Australia should slash carbon emissions by nearly a third by 2025 to ensure it is in step with the developed world, a report says.
The government's independent climate change body also believes Australia should be doing more than its planned five per cent cuts to CO2 by 2020.
The Climate Change Authority wants the government to commit to a 30 per cent target on 2000 levels by 2025, claiming that's in line with other like economies, such as the United States and European Union.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt will consider the report but says the targets are more onerous than the goals of any other country.
In its draft report on Australia's future emission reduction targets, the authority reaffirms previous calls for a 2030 target of 40 to 60 per cent.
It comes as nations prepare to put post-2020 targets on the table before the United Nations climate summit in Paris later this year, on the back of an agreement to limit global warming to two degrees.
A special taskforce will develop Australia's post-2020 targets by June.
Mr Hunt says the government is combating climate change while limiting financial burden on Australian families.
"What the authority is proposing is not just the largest reduction in emissions intensity in the world but a third more onerous than any other country," a spokesman told AAP.
Federal government ministers have consistently said Australia won't do more than its fair share and would take more vigorous action if trading partners and large polluters also did.
But the authority believes that has happened and is calling on the government to make a "fair contribution", sooner rather than later.
"The long term nature of the problem means countries cannot wait to see how bad the impacts of climate change are before deciding whether to take decisive action," the report states.
"By then it could be too late."
The government tried to scrap the authority in 2014 but reneged in return for crucial crossbench Senate votes to pass its $2.55 billion direct action policy.
Environment groups say the report is further evidence Australia needs to lift its game.
But Climate Institute CEO John Connor says the proposed targets are "still risky" and is pushing for even higher targets.
"For a country exposed to extreme weather that is being put on steroids by global warming, Australia should be doing more and encouraging others to do more as well," he said.
The Minerals Council of Australia says the recommended cuts would slash economic growth, real wages and household living standards."
The authority concedes ambitious targets come with a cost and consumers may have to pay more from goods and services that are emissions intensive to produce.
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