Page 3801 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 22 November 2006
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I found Mr Mulcahy’s speech extraordinary in the fact that it did not address the motion but was really an attack on the Greens. Mr Mulcahy’s media release apparently accuses the Greens of not addressing Mr Abetz. Mr Mulcahy would be well aware that the Greens have had many interactions with Mr Abetz—not the most pleasant person at all. My response is: where was Mr Mulcahy when Senator Brown addressed the National Press Club? Why was he not there to ask him questions about his concerns about Greens policy on climate change?
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella—Minister for the Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Housing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (5.06): Mr Gentleman has raised some very interesting points and I agree, of course, with everything that he has said. I would just like to add to the debate in terms of some of the important developments that are occurring both nationally and internationally.
The international policy focus has shifted from simply mitigating greenhouse gases, as was the focus of the ACT greenhouse gas strategy, to also adapting to unavoidable changes to the climate now occurring. Most recently in Nairobi a series of meetings on climate change was held. These meetings included the second meeting of the parties to the Kyoto protocol and the 12th conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are a couple of people who just got observer status; I am sure they know who they are.
At these meetings the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan placed climate change alongside other global threats such as armed conflicts, poverty and weapons proliferation. Delegates attending the meeting were reminded on a daily basis that the scientific evidence for global warming is now more compelling than ever and that the time left to act if we are to avoid dangerous climate change and limit the economic costs of adaptation is narrowing fast. In addition, business and industry constantly pressed negotiators at Nairobi to ensure that the outcomes of the negotiations were sufficiently robust and underpinned long-term investments. Both the science and economics arguments are warning that we have a narrowing window of opportunity in which to act.
The United Nations and the World Meteorological Organisation have established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, to produce regular reports on the science of climate change. The Nairobi climate change meetings highlighted that the scientific knowledge has increased tremendously from the findings of the IPCC’s second assessment report to the fourth assessment report. The fourth assessment report is due in 2007 and, based on a draft report, is expected to include a greater focus on the need for regional integration.
The recently released Stern report, undertaken by the UK government economic service head and former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, is the largest review of the economic consequences of climate change ever undertaken. This report has warned that the impact on Australia will be significant unless urgent action is taken and has called for an expanded global carbon trading market to be implemented immediately. It finds that the shift to a low-carbon economy will also bring huge opportunities. It calls for immediate action to expand and link the growing number of emissions trading schemes around the world as a powerful way to promote
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