Page 243 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 7 March 2007
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Wednesday, 7 March 2007
The Assembly met at 10.30 am.
(Quorum formed.)
MR SPEAKER (Mr Berry) took the chair at 10.30 am and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.
Environment—climate change
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (10.32): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes:
(a) the threats of climate change to our environment, economy and society; and
(b) the failure of the Howard Federal Government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) immediately release its Greenhouse Strategy;
(b) calculate and release an inventory of current ACT greenhouse gas emissions;
(c) adopt:
(i) the targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and strategies outlined in the Kyoto Protocol, understanding that this is a first, essential and minimal response to the problem; and
(ii) a mandatory renewable energy target at least equivalent to NSW;
(d) ensure the Government’s imminent Greenhouse Strategy incorporates:
(i) timelines and targets to achieve emission reductions at least equivalent to 60% by 2050; and
(ii) mechanisms to strengthen these targets if events require it; and establish the ACT as a Centre of Sustainability Industries and a model for Australia and the rest of the world in sustainable urban planning and management.
The Greens did not need Al Gore or the Stern report to alert them to the dangers of human-induced climate change. And what an understatement that term is proving to be as we learn more about the potential impact of even minimal rises in temperature on our environment, our economy and our lives, not to mention the lives of other species. Many of the scientists who first modelled its potential frightening impacts
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