Worse to come: As the hottest and driest continent on Earth, Australia cannot afford to sit on the sidelines of the global climate debate.
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SYDNEY: Australia will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least five per cent (compared to 2000 levels) by 2020 to help combat climate change, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said today.
The national target was unveiled this morning with the release of the federal government's white paper on its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. The paper also establishes a long-term target of a 60 per cent reduction in emissions from 2000 levels by 2050.
Rudd said that, as one of the hottest and driest continents on Earth, Australia could not afford to sit on the sidelines as the world risked rising temperatures and changed weather patterns from climate change.
Falling short
"Five per cent below 2000 levels is our minimum, unconditional commitment to reduce emissions by 2020, irrespective of the actions of other nations," he told the National Press Club in Canberra.
"Fifteen per cent below 2000 levels is our commitment to reduce emissions further if there is a global agreement where all major economies commit to substantially restrain emissions and advanced economies take on comparable reductions to that of Australia," he said.
However, though any commitment to reduce levels of the atmospheric pollution blamed for global warming is a move in the right direction, Australia's minimum five per cent target has left many commentators surprised, falling far short of expectations.
"The 2020 target of only five to 15 per cent can mean only one of two things – Australia has either given up on avoiding dangerous climate change, or, Australia is looking to the international community to pick up its emissions reduction shortfall – effectively demanding that the international community subsidise its polluting industry," said Jeff Angel, Executive Director of the Total Environment Centre, a lobbying group in Sydney.
Criticism to come
Indeed, the news of Australia's carbon reduction target has already drawn out protestors, seen outside Parliament House and ministerial offices in Canberra today with banners reading "Aim Higher: 40 per cent by 2020".
While Rudd agreed that while the government would be criticised for not setting higher targets, he argued that the proposed cuts are appropriate and responsible and will deliver the needed reform while supporting the economy amid a global recession.
He added that, despite the seemingly low figure, the cuts are a substantial commitment given that Australia's carbon pollution is projected to rise by a further 20 per cent between 2000 and 2020 if no action is taken.
Barry Brook, Director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, noted that while the proposed cut in emissions may be "a pitifully inadequate attempt to stop dangerous climate change," the reduction targets are nonetheless "ambitious and deeply challenging goals, and equal to or better than the per capita targets proposed by other developed nations such as the EU, U.K. and USA."
But, even if we meet our 2020 target, he said, we still face serious repercussions from climate change. "The science tells us we need at least 40 per cent by 2020…with the real aim of restoring [carbon dioxide] levels to what they were in the early 1950s."
Strong political will
"It's going to take a truly revolutionary set of policies and strong political will to rapidly wean ourselves off carbon-based energy," Brook said.
"Even to achieve the cuts announced by the government today, we must implement radical improvements in our energy efficiency and develop a whole new infrastructure of energy supply," he continued.
"So one has to ask the obvious question – why not commit to going 'all the way' and actually solve the crisis before it has time to happen, rather than merely half-solve it, such that the best we can do is delay the inevitable crunch?"
Last week the 27 countries of the EU committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020, and Britain went even further in committing to cut emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
With AFP.
