Some Liberal MPs want Australia to commit to stronger 2035 emissions cuts as the Morrison government refuses to budge on its target for this decade.
NSW MP Dave Sharma thinks it's doable to reduce emissions between 40 and 45 per cent by 2035.
"It's a modest stretch, but it's not a big stretch," he told Sky News on Monday.
"Particularly when you consider the number of new technologies we're investing in and the cost of things like battery storage that are coming down now at an exponential rate."
Liberal backbencher Jason Falinski says the 2030 target should not be changed because it was an election commitment, instead he suggested a new date.
"COP27 will move to targets for 2035 and that will become the medium-term target that nations will be asked to look at and that obviously creates scope for countries like Australia to look at their projections," he told the ABC.
"As a matter of democratic faith, any update to our 2035 target needs to be taken to the people at an election so they can compare and contrast," Mr Falinski said.
Countries agreed at the COP26 summit in Glasgow to accelerate the phasing down, but not out, of coal after lobbying by countries including India.
Source: AAP
"The direction of travel is is clear; it's away from fossil fuels," Mr Sharma said.
"If we're serious about reducing our emissions, we need to lessen our reliance on fossil fuels."
The government expects to cut emissions by up to 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has ruled out increasing Australia's existing pledge of cutting emissions by 26 to 28 per cent this decade.
This is despite Australia being a signatory to a COP26 agreement calling on countries to revisit their mid-term targets.
"We have a process which is proven, which has delivered far more than most countries in the world in terms of emissions reductions," Mr Taylor told ABC radio.
"And that process is one where we update predictions each year."
The world's failure at COP26 to agree to phase out coal has been trumpeted by Nationals senator Matt Canavan as a great result for Australia's mining industry.
"Given the fact that the agreement did not say that coal needs to be phased down or taken out, it is a big green light for us to build more coal mines," he told the Nine Network.
But one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, Robert Orr, does not think global investors will be rushing to support coal mining in Australia or anywhere.
"It's safe to say that the so-called Australian way to net-zero was pretty heavily criticised in Glasgow by a range of parties," the special adviser on climate change to the UN secretary-general told ABC radio.
"It's unfortunate for the Australian government or any government to dig in, around commitments currently made."
Australia has a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 that relies on voluntary action from the private sector.
It's plan anticipates getting 85 per cent of the way there by 2050 and relies on "further technological improvements" to make up the gap to zero.
"The final 15 per cent ... the technologies we expect to play a role, they are primarily technologies we are already investing in," Mr Taylor said.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese plans to release Labor's 2030 emissions target before the year's end.
He accuses the Morrison government of hypocrisy for signing up to a UN push for higher 2030 targets only to walk away from it.
