Australia would be urged to lift its 2030 emissions reduction target as soon as next year under a proposal to be debated in the final days of the Glasgow climate talks.
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The Morrison government has yet to confirm its official position on the proposal, but is continuing to defend its climate action policies amid ongoing domestic and international criticism.
One world-renowned expert is warning the government that pressure from other countries and the business community will continue to "grow and grow" over the next 12 months if it fails to lift its ambitions.
The fortnight-long COP26 summit is approaching its climax, with final negotiations between countries on a new global agreement to tackle climate change now underway.
The conference was handed a major and unexpected boost after the world's two largest emitters - China and the US - set aside their political differences to announce a new commitment to step up efforts this decade to fight global warming.
"This is a big deal," Climate Council head of research Simon Bradshaw said.
"One of the big fears going into Glasgow is China and the US would be at loggerheads, but in fact what this statement says is they will collaborate, despite their differences."
The summit's UK president Alok Sharma has published the first draft of the agreement which all countries will need to sign off on.
Greenpeace International has blasted the draft deal, arguing it allows countries to delay agreeing to take the action needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees for another 12 months.
The text of the seven-page document is expected to be revised heavily over the next two to three days as countries lobby to water down or scrap sections.
The Australian delegation is expected to argue against the section which calls on countries to accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels.
Australia refused to sign a pledge to end coal during the first week of the Glasgow summit, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor adamant that the sector would be protected even as the government pursues its new net zero emissions by 2050 target.
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There is also expected to be contention over a section which would urge countries to "revisit and strengthen" their 2030 targets by the end of 2022.
The government left Glasgow without lifting its Tony Abbott-era target of cutting emissions by 26-28 per cent of 2005 levels, which prompted a backlash from green groups and some world leaders.
Mr Morrison instead announced a new 2030 projection, which showed emissions could fall by up to 35 per cent by the end of the decade.
He has maintained the Coalition wouldn't change its formal 2030 target because that was the policy it took to the 2019 federal election.
The Nationals opposed a higher short-term target during last month's negotiations with the Liberals on the government's net zero roadmap.
The Canberra Times sought confirmation from Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce about his position on 2030 targets, and whether his party would resist pressure to raise them in 2022.
He was unavailable for comment, but his office referred to previous interviews in which he publicly opposed a new target.
In a statement on Thursday, Mr Taylor said Australia was an "active and constructive participant in the negotiations to ensure a positive outcome for COP26".
Physicist and climate scientist Bill Hare is a world-renowned expert, having been a lead author of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and involved in negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement.
Mr Hare said international pressure on Australia to increase its 2030 targets would escalate over the next 12 months, as the global push to end coal and transition to clean energy gathered momentum.
"I think that's going to put more and more pressure on," he said.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who could be Prime Minister when the next UN climate summit is held in November 2022, again refused to be drawn on what emissions reduction targets he would take to the election.
Mr Albanese said he would wait until the Glasgow summit ended and the government released the modelling behind its net zero target before unveiling Labor's plan.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
