The Abbott government says it will be a constructive player in global climate talks, but environment groups have warned it is laying out a path that puts Australia at risk of failing the most important climate test in a decade.
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The government has published an issues paper ahead of public consultation on Australia's post-2020 emissions reduction targets ahead of a new global climate deal in Paris at the end of this year.
Australia's targets are under review and the government has promised it will announce new targets mid-year.
The paper commits Australia to the next international climate pact and states "a strong and effective global agreement, that addresses carbon leakage and delivers environmental benefit, is in Australia's national interest".
At its launch in Melbourne on Saturday, Environment Minister Greg Hunt said "we are committed to action on climate change because it's real and significant and important".
But the Greens said the paper puts Australia on track for a repeat of 1997 Kyoto talks, where then environment minister Robert Hill argued Australia should be made an exception because of the economy's high dependence on coal.
"We are one of the few countries in the world to have met and beaten our first round of Kyoto targets and to be on target to meet and beat our second round of Kyoto targets," Mr Hunt said.
"So we want to be part of the post 2020 period."
Mr Hunt said the government would do this without carbon pricing and "without making families pay for higher electricity prices and gas prices".
Critics have attacked the seven-page document for failing to mention the internationally agreed goal of avoiding 2 degrees of global warming.
The wording of the discussion paper raises the possibility the government may argue that Australia's heavily resource-based economy should qualify it for special treatment in international talks.
Mr Hunt said: "Australia will play its part in a very constructive way. Each country will be making commitments based on its own economic profile".
The paper says: "Compared with other developed countries, Australia has stronger economic and population growth, and our economic structure is different.
"Our resource and agricultural industries represent a significantly larger share of national economic output. These factors affect the emissions intensity of our exports and economy".
It says that 60 per cent of Australia's primary energy supply comes from coal, compared to the average in developed countries of 20 per cent.
"For the foreseeable future, Australia will continue to be a major supplier of crucial energy and raw materials to the rest of the world, especially Asian countries."
The Climate Institute said that while the government's intergenerational report made reference to the 2 degree goal, its discussion paper used a global energy scenario that would put the world on track for nearly 4 degrees of warming.
"The Issues Paper states 'by 2040, it is estimated that 74 per cent [of the world's primary energy needs] will still be met by carbon-based sources because of growing demand in emerging economies'," chief executive John Connor said.
He said this scenario was based on modelling by the International Energy Agency that assumed countries would only implement existing policies and proposals to cut greenhouse gases.
"This assumes that no countries will take any further action for the next 25 years," Mr Connor said.
"The IEA admits this scenario would witness warming of at least 3.6 degrees. A world of four degrees warming would be disastrous for Australia's economy, security and environment."
Mr Connor said other major emitting economies were moving to "increase not decrease credible climate action".
In a landmark announcement with China last year, United States President Barack Obama foreshadowed targets that would reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2025.
This is expected to be formalised in an announcement next week.
The EU has also announced its target: to achieve carbon emissions 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.
China has made a projection that its emissions will increase until 2030 and then fall, but Beijing has made no formal commitment yet.
Greens leader Christine Milne said on Saturday "nothing has changed since 1997".
"In 1997, Robert Hill argued that Australia was an exception, that our economy was disproportionately dependent on coal and therefore we were a special case and needed an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
"Fast forward to 2015 and we have a repeat performance from Greg Hunt and Tony Abbott: Australia is set to argue again that 60 per cent of our energy comes from coal."
The paper, Setting Australia's Post-2020 Target for Greenhouse Gas Emissions, says the government is open to new policy measures to cut emissions, beyond its existing Direct Action Plan.
It invites public suggestions on what Australia's next target should be.
It acknowledges that countries will be expected to justify well in advance of Paris how their targets are "fair and ambitious in light of their national circumstances" and "how it contributes to achieving the [United Nation's] objective of stabilising emissions at a level that would avoid dangerous climate change".
