Australia should reach net zero by 2040, new Climate Change Authority member says

Under that legislation, the authority will produce an annual parliamentary statement and advise on future emissions reduction targets. That advice will have to be made public and, if it is rejected, the minister must say why.

The Abbott government tried to abolish the authority but failed after the then senator Clive Palmer said in a press conference with former US vice-president Al Gore that he would block that attempt.

The last climate scientist to hold a spot on the authority was Prof David Karoly, who saw out his five-year term in 2017.

After spending years in a comparative wilderness, the authority has new members and new responsibilities under the Albanese government.

Hughes joins two other new members Dr Virginia Marshall, a legal researcher and expert on Indigenous water rights, and Sam Mostyn, a businesswoman and sustainability adviser.

Hughes said she was called personally by energy minister Chris Bowen to ask if she would take on the role at the authority.

The first meeting of the authority with its new members is set for mid-October.

Hughes took her academic retirement decision before she took the phone call from the energy minister.