We need real action on climate change

It is disappointing that both Labor and Liberal party election policies on climate change announced so far do not provide any immediate action to reduce our carbon emissions.

The scientific evidence on climate change clearly indicates that immediate action is required, yet the Howard government has only committed to an emission trading scheme in 2012 after a decade of denial. No details of their proposed scheme are available yet. There is considerable risk that it may not result in any emission reductions.

The Howard Government is also promoting nuclear power as part of their solution, which will be too expensive, too late, produce toxic waste and not be renewable.

On the other hand, Labor has committed to 2050 emission reduction targets, but not too any shorter term 2020 targets that are essential for achieving the longer term ones. However, Labor’s 20% renewable energy target by 2020 is a step in the right direction.

Neither the Labor or Liberal party will commit to the essential policy goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2 degrees, yet science tells us even this temperature rise will have widespread deleterious effects on global ecosystems.

I encourage the many people in our community concerned about climate change to attend the Walk Against Warming rally on Sunday 7/11 to show their support for immediate bipartisan action to address climate change.

Setting energy efficiency targets and increasing our utilisation of renewable energy is achievable immediately, but we need the political will to do so.

Vote 1 Green for real action on climate change, rather than a load of hot air

This video succinctly explains why we really must take immediate action.




Peter Campbell
Greens candidate for Kooyong

Vote Green for real action on climate change

I have compared Labor and Liberal policies on climate change, as at July 2007, and drawn the conclusion that there is actually little difference between them. Both Labor and Liberal policies do not translate into meaningful or real action on climate change.

This diagram illustrates the widespread concerns with climate change and why we need to take immediate action to address it:


Climate change affects us all. A comprehensive and widespread strategy is required to tackle it.

Comparing the Greens policies on climate change to the Liberal (John Howard) and Labor (Kevin Rudd) policies reveals how shallow those of the major parties are, as illustrated in the following table:



This leaflet is being distributed across the Kooyong electorate and elsewhere in Australia. Please email me if you are keen to help us with this.

LETTER: Howard luke-warm

Below is a letter from Phillip Walker, St Kilda East, that was published in The Age on Sunday July 8, 2007. I think he sums up John Howard's complete lack of action on addressing climate change, and his political maneouvering on the topic. I think is completely unacceptable for the Australian Government to avoid setting targets for reducing carbon emissions for 2010, 2020 and 2050 despite clear scientific evidence that the future of our planet is now at stake.

And Labor's avoidance of setting 2020 targets makes them not much different from John Howard.

Letter text follows:

The report in The Sunday Age (1/7), "PM warms to his task", highlights the Liberal approach, which is a diversion that will not reduce Australia's carbon emissions to the levels required to stop catastrophic global warming.

Dealing with climate change is an international issue and that requires working through international institutions. As Michael Raupach noted (The Age, 25/6), "the biggest value of the (1997 Kyoto) protocol was its effort to build social capital".

Howard's APEC initiative undermines international efforts and of the 16 Pacific island countries, only PNG is a member. This means the Pacific countries that are in the forefront of coping with the negative consequences of climate change are excluded from the negotiation process.

It appears unlikely that Australia will meet the Kyoto commitments, which even permitted us to increase greenhouse emissions by 8 per cent on 1990 levels. As it is, Australia's per capita emissions are 4.5 times the global average, second only to the US.

The criticism of Labor for failing to set a mid-term (2020-30) reduction target is accurate. What is not mentioned is that the Liberals have neither a medium nor a long-term target for greenhouse emissions reduction.

Similarly, a national emission trading scheme needs to have stringent limits and be applicable to all emitters. Howard has put the start date off for five years, has not yet set limits, and will not apply it to all industrial emitters, which is self-defeating.

Scientific consensus is that we have 10-15 years to get it right on climate change and that we need to limit global warming to 20 degrees Celsius, a target both Liberal and Labor are silent on.

What Australia does need is leadership that provides a clear strategy for steady reduction in greenhouse emissions, and the political will to apply it. That's why I'll be voting for the Greens.

Source