Environmental experts say the Federal Government's renewable energy targets are not aggressive enough to have an impact on global warming.
The Population Health Congress in Brisbane has heard climate change will eventually expose Australians to greater heat extremes, extreme weather events, and changes in infectious disease patterns.
Professor Ian Lowe, from the Australian Conservation Foundation, says Australia should aim to be totally reliant on renewable energy by mid-century.
"We should be getting 30 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2020, 50 per cent by 2030, virtually all of it by 2040 and if we set that target there's no doubt we could achieve it, it's economically feasible," he said.
"In fact it's probably the best possible investment in our future. All it requires is the political will."
