It has been said many times before that PM Tony Abbott is sending Australia backwards while the rest of the world leaps forwards in terms of climate change. The US and China, the worlds’ biggest emitters, have announced an ambitious new climate deal.

Mr Abbott has made no secret that he doesn’t believe in the science of climate change (even though thousands of highly trained and respected scientists have researched the matter extensively) but it is crystal clear that the rest of the world does believe in it and are starting to act on it. The US China deal was announced just before the G20 meeting in Brisbane, most likely on purpose and is hoping to stir up some momentum for other countries to set targets before the world meets in Paris next year.

The announcement may also have been timed with the G20 to put some pressure on Tony Abbott who would not put climate change on the official agenda for the G20. According to RenewEconomy, the announcement also came at the same time that Tony Abbott received a letter from the Pope urging him to take action on climate change.

“As the world’s two largest economies, energy consumers and emitters of greenhouse gases, we have a special responsibility to lead the global effort against climate change,” President Obama said on Wednesday in a joint news conference with Xi Jinping.

“We hope to encourage all major economies to be ambitious – all countries, developing and developed – to work across some of the old divides, so we can conclude a strong global climate agreement next year.”

The US has set a target of 26% – 28% below 2005 emission levels by 2025 and China has agreed to cap its ever increasing carbon emissions by 2030 or before. China is also expected to set a renewable energy target of 20% by 2030.

The Climate Institute’s Erwin Jackson said the US pledge was equivalent to a 30 per cent reduction target for Australia by 2025. The TCI last week recommended it aim for 40 per cent target. The EU, the world’s third largest emitter, has committed to cut emissions by 40% before 2030.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said the move should be a massive wake-up call to Tony Abbott. “His continued climate denial and his destruction of the environment is reckless,” Milne said. “Tony Abbott is so busy unwinding Australia’s climate policies that he failed to notice the global economy is changing around him. He is risking billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs.

“Tony Abbott is engaging in intergenerational theft while the rest of the world moves to protect future generations and the planet. Until the Abbott government took control, Australia was a world leader in climate policy with an emissions trading scheme that was considered template legislation for other nations.”