Oct 15, 2007 - 10:40am
The Climate Institute welcomes comments by both the Prime Minister and
the Leader of the Opposition that climate change is a key policy
priority and looks forward to seeing the further details of those
policies.
“The Climate Institute will assess the parties against three
criteria during the election to establish whether or not the policies
will reverse rising greenhouse pollution levels within five years, make
the switch to clean energy and demonstrate true international
leadership.” Said Climate Institute Chief Executive, John Connor.
While
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has spoken of climate change as one of his
top 5 ways in which his policies differentiate from the Government’s,
the Prime Minister’s YouTube election announcement indicates a further
climate policy response. The PM promised more detailed policies
beginning with “a climate change policy that balances our obligation to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the need to keep the economy
growing.”
“A reduction in greenhouse pollution and a switch to
clean energy can be achieved with sustained economic growth. Government
and independent groups such as ABARE and CSIRO shows that strong
economic growth is set to continue even if we substantially reduce
emissions,” said Mr Connor
There is also growing evidence of the
nature of the impacts we will experience in Australia as a result of
climate change. The Bureau of Meteorology says the severity of the
current drought has been exacerbated by climate change, and recently the
Bushfire CRC and CSIRO projected that the overall intensity of fire
weather seasons may increase by up to 30% with high levels of global
warming.
“No political party has a plan for Australia’s future
unless it has clear plans to reverse our rising greenhouse pollution,
ensure all new electricity comes from clean energy and join the rest of
the world to building on the Kyoto framework to reduce greenhouse
pollution.
The Climate Institute will be releasing its assessment
of the major parties against those three criteria at the end of this
week, with updates as the campaign progresses and new policies are
announced.”