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Dropping emissions trading is unacceptable
Date: 27-Apr-2010
A government decision to shelve emissions trading until the end of 2012 is totally unacceptable.
“To put comprehensive climate action in the too-hard basket until 2013 would be bad for the environment, de-stabilising for business and totally unacceptable to the millions of Australians who want government leadership on climate change,” said ACF Executive Director Don Henry.
“We need leadership from Government and Opposition on an issue Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described as the great moral and economic challenge of our time.
“The delay will put the Rudd Government nearly three years behind in its election promise to introduce an emissions trading scheme in 2010.
“Australia is already feeling the effects of climate change and we will suffer much more if we further delay action.
“Our leaders can help leave a less polluted and safer world to our children by making big companies pay for the pollution they produce and investing the revenue in building a clean economy and jobs.
“China, the EU, Japan and other countries are acting on climate change and investing at scale in the clean energy economy.
“If we don’t take action we’ll be left behind with a 20th century, rust bucket economy.
“ACF is looking for all political parties to go to this year’s election with strong climate change policies that they will implement in the next term of government.”
From President Ian Lowe:
The science tells us that global emissions must start trending down within a decade to have an acceptable chance of avoiding dangerous climate change.
As was agreed at Bali in 2007, that means developed nations have to reduce by 25 to 40 per cent by 2020. If we don't start until 2013 and allow further growth in the intervening period, the rate of change looks alarming.
If there is not to be an ETS, there have to be other measures, like a serious target for renewable electricity.
While the government can't get an ETS through the Senate, it could introduce a carbon tax in the Budget with an undertaking to increase it each year until an ETS is legislated. That would give business some confidence to invest as well as providing a price signal to drive change.
