Mr Morrison told Parliament on Monday he would stick with the target that he took to the 2019 election, which was set by former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2015, to reduce emissions by at least 26 per cent from 2005 levels.

His decision comes after Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce on Sunday all but ruled out support for a higher 2030 commitment.

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However, Mr Morrison has told Liberal MPs he intends to take a binding commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 to the Glasgow climate summit.

The United Kingdom minister in charge of the United Nations climate talks, Alok Sharma, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age earlier this month that Australia should pursue a target of 45 to 50 per cent to do its part, while the United States, which had a similar target to Australia doubled its target to 50 per cent.

Recently, South Korea increased its 2030 target from 26 per cent to 40 per cent.

Scientists believe that if the world is to avoid the worst impacts of warming it must reduce emissions by 45 per cent this decade, but if current national commitments are kept they would increase by 16 per cent.