LABOR has ruled out reconsidering the use of nuclear energy to cope with worsening expectations about climate change.

A day after economist Ross Garnaut warned the Rudd Government it would have to cut Australia's carbon emissions more sharply than previously envisaged, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong reasserted Labor's opposition to nuclear power, promising to press for greater use of alternative energy sources.

"We don't need to go down the path of nuclear energy," Senator Wong told the Nine Network. "What we do need to ensure is that we look at renewables, and the Government has a 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020 to drive investment in the renewable energy sector. We will also be investing in carbon capture and storage so there is a clean coal future for Australia."

Last year, Labor ran a strong scare campaign against the Howard government's plans to allow the construction of nuclear power stations. However, Labor is in favour of increasing exports of uranium to nations that do use nuclear power.

Professor Garnaut's interim report into the economic implications of climate change for Australia, released on Thursday, said the Rudd Government should go beyond its target to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

Warning that the world faced high-risk implications from climate change sooner than had been previously thought, Professor Garnaut called for the establishment of a 2020 reductions target to be set this year, and backed the need for the creation of an emissions trading system.

Yesterday Senator Wong continued to avoid embracing the report in full. She said the Government was awaiting economic modelling from Treasury before finalising its position, and promised to keep "a very clear eye" on the impact of its actions on the Australian economy.

Meanwhile, the natural gas industry called for greater use of gas in power generation.

The Australian Pipeline Industry Association said the Government should expand its renewable energy target to include a clean energy target, allowing energy producers to use natural gas as part of their clean energy options.

"Gas used to produce electricity in a co-generation facility creates about half the greenhouse gas emissions of an equivalent coal-fired power station," association chief executive Cheryl Cartwright said.

"Power generation by natural gas is generally around half the cost of power generation by renewable energy sources."

Trade union leaders welcomed the report, despite the possibility of job losses in energy-intensive industries. Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union mining and energy division president Tony Maher described it as "pretty sensible".

"If by 2050 you can hit targets of 60 per cent, you can probably do 80 per cent," he said.

Former national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and senator-elect Doug Cameron said he was optimistic about the impact emissions targets would have on jobs.