The third report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Working Report III named ‘Mitigation of Climate Change’ was released on the 4th May in Bangkok. The report further examined the devastating effects of climate change and future of the planet if nothing is done. The report called for greater use of renewable resources and the adoption of energy-efficient measures.
Whilst Australia’s response appeared to be quite negative with the Environmental Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated in SBS World News Headline Stories that he felt that the
“ report highlights is the importance of global response. Simply imposing unilateral and savage cuts to Australian emission will just export our emissions and jobs to other countries in gesture that is as destructive as it is futile.”
However Climate Institute chief executive John Connor put the report into perspective outlining its purpose.
“ …report highlighted the importance of setting binding emissions reductions targets. This makes the point that it’s affordable and achievable, and the safest course for both the climate and the economy is for early action.”
Despite the government’s claim that aiding in fixing the issue of climate change would be too much for the Australian economy at present, contradictory articles such as “UN report shows up Turnbull: Brown Senator Bob Brown says Malcolm Turnbull has been shown up by a United Nations report on global warming” which outlines that Turnbull is wrong about the economic effects noting that the cost of reducing greenhouse gasses would “have a minimal impact on world economic growth”
Labor party member’s environmental spokesmen Peter Garrett rightly stated that “ Mr Howard won’t tell us when he’s going to target greenhouse gas reductions, he won’t say by how much he’s going to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. And yet this authoritative report shows very clearly that you actually can address the issue of reducing emissions and do it in a way that doesn’t significantly impact on economy in the long-term.”
The report has revealed that the Australian economy and even the global economy can adopt cost-efficient methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions but the Federal Government still continues to deny that they are not doing enough. With the impending deadline of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, which
Australia is not a signatory to will take on new initiatives taken to limit the destruction of our planet.
