Australian environmental groups decry government's setting of 'weak' emission targets

by Rich Bowden - Dec 15 2008, 03:20

Australian environmental groups have reacted with fury after today's  announcement by the Rudd Labor Government of its carbon emission target reduction policy today in the capital Canberra.

Ruling out extensive cuts in carbon emissions before 2020, the Labor Government struck a pessimistic note on whether it thought world action on climate change would be effective by saying it would limit its policy of cutting carbon emissions to five to fifteen percent. The higher amount would be implemented should the world sign on to an effective climate change policy. The former figure was announced as an "unconditional" level should no agreement be reached.

The cuts are well short of the commitment suggested by climate scientists to make a difference to reducing catastrophic climate change. Most scientists are calling on governments to cut carbon emissions by twenty-five to forty percent to make any impact on rapid global warming.

The Australian government's announcement said the plan was "realistic" in its aims after concluding that, though deep cuts in emissions would be beneficial to Australia, no world agreement appeared likely.

"A fair and effective global agreement delivering deep cuts in emissions... would be in Australia's interests," the plan says. "Achieving global commitment to emissions reductions of this order appears unlikely in the next commitment period."

However one of the country's leading environmental groups, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), lambasted the Federal Government for its failure to show leadership on the issue.

"A weak target to cut emissions by just 5–15 per cent by 2020 will not position Australia to save the Reef, Kakadu or the Australian Alps," said ACF executive director Don Henry in a statement. "Australians have not given permission for our government to give up on our much loved and important natural icons."

Mr Henry also criticised the government's plan to compensate large carbon polluters affected by the proposed reduction in emissions: "ACF is deeply concerned about the billions of taxpayers’ dollars that this scheme plans to hand directly to the big polluters, with virtually no strings attached. This could herald a new era of pollution protectionism.”

"The weak targets announced today will damage Australia’s international reputation and hold back progress towards an effective international agreement," Mr Henry said.

He added that a target reduction figure of five-fifteen percent was "not credible" in the face of recommendations from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which said cuts needed to be in the range of 25-40 percent to be effective.

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