climate change
Climate action delay to cost Australia dearly, warns PM's top adviser
Friday, 7 May 2010
THE chief scientist, Penny Sackett, says Australia is moving too slowly to bring its greenhouse gas emissions under control, exposing the nation to high risks and financial costs, after the federal government's decision to shelve its emissions trading scheme.
The warning came as a leading Chinese government adviser criticised Australia's lack of action on climate change, saying the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, had reduced the chance that the world could curb global warming before it was too late.
ETS is dead, where to now?
Friday, 30 April 2010
No point mourning the premature death of ETS at the hands of the Rudd Government. As First Dog pointed out in his cartoon, its fate was doomed a long time before Wednesday’s announcement. The pressing question climate campaigners are asking themselves is: where do we go now that politics have failed us miserably?
The 100% Renewable Community Campaign has started the ball rolling by calling on all concerned citizens and disappointed voters to demonstrate their support for a carbon neutral future this Sunday 2nd May.
Rudd on Rudd: I’m a coward on climate change
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
The problem with performing a political backflip of such spectacularly high degrees of difficulty as Kevin Rudd shakily negotiated today is the haunting rhetoric which can come back to bite you in the ass.
In dumping Labor’s commitment to introduce an emissions trading scheme (ETS) this term, various media reports have pinned Rudd to comments he made in a speech to the Lowy Institute for International Policy last November. It’s worth republishing his remarks at length . . .
National Climate Summit Maps Out Election Plan
Monday, 15 March 2010
Three hundred climate advocates from across the country have concluded their national climate summit in Canberra vowing to put climate on the election agenda.
Delegates to the summit represented a range of climate groups from every state and territory, and joined with officials from union, religious, and community organisations at Australian National University.
CAD Media Release: NT Govt Climate Change Policy
Monday, 21 December 2009
The Territory Government has released its long-awaited climate change policy. (http://www.greeningnt.nt.gov.au/climate/policy.html)
CAD has published a media release in response to the new policy.
Copenhagen summit ends with a watered-down political accord
Saturday, 19 December 2009
After two weeks of around the clock negotiations and the participation of over a hundred world leaders, the Copenhagen climate change summit has ended in failure, producing a flimsy political agreement far weaker than even the most pessimistic observers expected at the start of the talks.
The agreement – hastily cobbled together on the last day of the talks by 28 nations, including host Denmark, the US and Australia – drew fierce criticism by developing countries left out of the meetings, claiming rich countries had staged a “coup détat” of the UN process.
Copenhagen climate change conference: 'Fourteen days to seal history's judgment on this generation'
Monday, 7 December 2009
This editorial calling for action from world leaders on climate change is published today by 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages.
"Today (7/12/09) 56 newspapers in 45 countries take the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial. We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency.
Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security. The dangers have been becoming apparent for a generation. Now the facts have started to speak: 11 of the past 14 years have been the warmest on record, the Arctic ice-cap is melting and last year's inflamed oil and food prices provide a foretaste of future havoc. In scientific journals the question is no longer whether humans are to blame, but how little time we have got left to limit the damage. Yet so far the world's response has been feeble and half-hearted."
Developing nations stage climate summit walkout
Monday, 14 December 2009
Talks have resumed at the international climate change summit in Copenhagen after a walkout by developing countries.
The protest was led by African nations, which accused rich countries of trying to wreck the existing UN Kyoto Protocol.
The G-77 group of developing nations want talks on a second period of commitment to Kyoto to be given priority over broader discussions on a long-term vision for co-operative action.
Australia accused of cooking the books in Copenhagen
Monday, 14 December 2009
When the draft texts were presented in Copenhagen last Friday with proposed emissions reductions of between 30-45%, you could almost feel the wave of panic juddering through the delegates of the Annex 1 countries.
Cut emissions in line with the science? That would be insane. We might actually have to take action to cut our industrial pollution.
Almost immediately, the ‘umbrella group’ led by Australia rolled out the sadly predictable ‘blame China’ strategy. ‘Wong’s message for Beijing: Heat on China,’ bellowed The Australian’s front-page headline.
Image/Info: www.aph.gov.au/library/Pubs/BN/sci/KyotoAccRules.htm
The Science of Climate Change
This powerful short video is a good place to learn about why we need to take urgent action on climate climate change.
Problems playing? View on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T_3WJPYY9g
