Australia meets 2020 emissions target

Australia has met its 2020 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent from 2000 levels, Environment Minister Greg Hunt says.

Releasing a national update from the Environment Department ahead of global climate talks in Paris next week, Mr Hunt said estimates show Australia will exceed its target by 28 million tonnes.

"Critics have claimed time and time again that we would not achieve our 2020 target ... Today, I can advise formally that the critics are wrong," he told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.