SYDNEY - Australia on Thursday set its 2035 emissions target at a reduction of 62 percent-70 percent from 2005 levels, a lower figure than initially recommended by the country's climate change authority.

The United Nations has asked countries to submit their climate plans, called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, before the end of September so that their efforts can be assessed before the COP30 summit in November in Brazil.

Australia is one of the world's highest polluting countries per capita, largely due to its resources industry.

Its target falls below the range of 65 percent-75 percent that was modelled by the Treasury department and initially suggested by the Climate Change Authority, an independent body that advises the government on climate policy.

"The target must be two things, ambitious and achievable. A target over 70 percent is not achievable, that advice is clear, we have gone for the maximum level of ambition that is achievable," Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen told a news conference on Thursday.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also announced A$5 billion ($3.32 billion) in funding to help industrial facilities decarbonize, as well as A$2 billion for the country's Clean Energy Finance Corporation to continue to drive downward pressure on electricity prices.

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"We are not the biggest polluter or the biggest economy but our commitment to action on climate change matters," Albanese said in a statement.

"It matters to our neighbors, it matters for our economy and it matters for the country that we pass on to our children."

Out of the climate targets submitted to the UN, the United Kingdom has announced the most ambitious target at an effective reduction of 78 percent from 2005 levels.