Dec 15 2008
In the space of a year Australia has gone from climate change hero to climate change under-achiever, announcing an emissions reduction target of just 5-15 per cent by 2020 with the higher figure tied to the rest of the world reaching a binding agreement on climate change.
The announcement – made in a government white paper as the UN climate change conference ended inconclusively in Poznan, Poland – was branded as a pitiful result of pandering to lazy and short-sighted polluting businesses by WWF-Australia.
It was a far cry from the adulation received by Australia when the then new government signed on to the Kyoto protocol as almost its first official act on the eve of the pivotal Bali UN conference on climate change in December last year.
“This target is completely unacceptable,” said Paul Toni, WWF-Australia Program Leader Sustainable Development. “Australia’s big polluters have forced the government to sacrifice ordinary Australians’ future prosperity for their short term profits today.
“The Australian Treasury’s economic modelling has shown that cuts of 25 per cent are affordable and achievable if part of an international agreement. This should be the government’s aim.”
Mr Toni said the pain Australian families were experiencing due to the global financial crisis would only worsen in the future if the government was not ambitious with its pollution reduction target now.
“If we do not act now the economic burden imposed on everyday Australians will be immense – with rising food costs, higher insurance premiums and massive job losses in tourism and agriculture.
“Ironically, both climate change and the financial crisis are direct results of selfish, short-term planning and mismanagement by big business,” Mr Toni said.
WWF was also critical of government plans to gift large and possible growing proportions of permits to the biggest polluters.
“Compensation for heavily polluting industries robs the clean industries of the future of vital funding,” Toni said.
“If Australia wants to dramatically reduce emissions we must invest in new technologies such as wind, ocean, geothermal and solar, so we can start cutting emissions this decade.”
WWF said 2009 would be a defining moment in the planet’s history and urged the Australian government to take the initiative on a global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our actions from this point on will be judged by future generations. It is WWF-Australia’s hope our children will take pride in our actions rather than be ashamed by what this generation lost through self-interest and equivocation,” Mr Toni said.