Australia`s plan to use an accounting loophole to meet its obligations under the Paris climate agreement has no legal basis and suggests it is committed to further reducing emissions once a comprehensive agreement is reached, a new report says. “Australia is largely on fire for climate change and I don`t understand why the Australian government is looking for ways to weaken the Paris agreement so that it and others can do less to resolve the climate crisis,” Tong said. This short guide provides a brief history of the climate change convention negotiations, followed by an overview of the Paris Agreement and Australia`s contribution to the agreement. Australia`s NDC Intended, published by the federal government in August 2015 before the Paris Agreement was adopted, has required Australia to achieve a “macroeconomic target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% from 2005 to 2030 levels.” However, Australia has qualified its objectives by reserving the right to adapt its objective, “if the rules and other terms of support of the agreement are different in a way that greatly influences the definition of our objective.” Australia did not commit to carbon neutrality in the second half of this century. Australia`s 2030 emissions reduction target has been described by some as less ambitious than that of most developed countries. Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis by four international research organizations, found Australia`s target to be “insufficient,” while the 2015 Australian Climate Change Authority recommended that Australia have a 30 per cent reduction from 2000 emissions by 2025 and 40-60 per cent below 2000 levels by 2030. However, the Australian government asserts that “our goal is to make a fair contribution to Australia” and argues that it exceeds that of other countries on a per capita basis and in terms of emission intensity. Australia`s INDC said that “Australia will achieve a macroeconomic target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2030.” The comparison of objectives between Member States is made difficult by the use of different base years and by different target years.