ItÂ’s simple. We need to eliminate millions of tonnes of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the thin and vulnerable layer of our earthÂ’s atmosphere. We have the technology today to do this. What we lack is the political will.
The worldÂ’s scientists agree we need deep cuts in carbon emissions of at least 60 per cent by 2050 to avoid what our Prime Minister has dismissed as the “gloomy predictionsÂâ€.
For Australia, these include
crippling drought, severe floods, more destructive bush fires, record-breaking heat waves, increasing water scarcity and intensifying cyclones and storms. And theyÂ’re happening now.
Economically, we stand to lose billions - $1.5 billion in tourism is supported by the Great Barrier Reef alone, which the CSIRO predicts to be 97 per cent dead and bleached with only a 2-3°C rise in average global temperature.
A further $550 million comes from our ski industry, which CSIRO research shows will be reduced by more up to 60 per cent with a seemingly innocuous rise of just 1°C in average global temperature.
Yet despite the Federal Government's rhetoric, Australia continues to emit the most planet-changing carbon dioxide per capita of any industrialised country in the world because of our heavy reliance on coal.
Our key decision-makers have their heads too far down a coalmine to sign the Kyoto Protocol, price carbon appropriately or encourage genuine large-scale investment in renewable energy. They would rather find obstacles to action than solutions.
But in truth, we're far from short on solutions to climate change right here in Australia.
New South Wales is setting up a National Emissions Trading Taskforce, and The Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change recently brought together major corporations to make the case for early action with the help of the CSIRO and AllenÂ’s consulting.
Many advocacy groups have been doing remarkable work on climate change for years, such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund Australia, while new initiatives like Climate Movement Australia and the Climate Institute are all adding to the tipping point for change. Even Channel 7's Sunrise have started their own petition to cool the globe and keep the Federal Government from slashing rebates for solar power.
More useful information for tackling our climate crisis include the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and CaliforniaÂ’s Climate Change Portal. And to start with your reducing your own carbon footprint, check out David Suzuki's guide to going carbon neutral, switching your home to Green Power and other take home tips from the GreenHome challenge.
And even if you think youÂ’'ve heard it all before about global warming, donÂ’t miss Al GoreÂ’s film An Inconvenient Truth.
The economic costs of doing nothing are greater than we can imagine, while the potential returns of acting now are tremendous. Our biggest challenge right now is actually the timidity and smallness in our politics that are holding us back -- and
democracy is the solution.
Yesterday, GetUp attended the
Climate Action Network Australia's conference on climate change and we were energised and inspired by all the ideas in the works for getting democracy into action, to step up and truly meet a challenge that unites us all.
The groundswell movement is beginning, and here is our message: this issue is bigger than party politics, bigger than special interests and more important than short-term economic gain.
Give us responsible leadership and bold action now to solve the climate crisis, or step aside.
September 28th, 2006
Finally people are starting to get the message! I have been trying to convince people for years but most have just find my green persuasion eccentric. The future really is in our hands. The Australian government must get out of the pockets of big business and have the guts to consider more than just their own political future! We all must consume less, use less, recycle, install solar energy, grey water recycling systems, permaculture...what ever we can. It is an investment in the future. But much more, the current global economy must change for us to survive. Those with power and money, must act with the future in mind, not just for the bottom line.