Page 4854 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 October 2010
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The Labor government has outlined the measures that we believe can allow us to achieve these targets. Indeed, if Mr Smyth had done his research, he would have noted that at the time I introduced this bill I also released two key pieces of analysis outlining how we can achieve these reductions. That was through a document prepared on behalf of the government by the consultancy Kinesis, showing the opportunities for addressing growth in our emissions and achieving reductions, and a further piece of work by the consultants Heuris Partners, also commissioned by my department, that identified ACT zero net admissions, gap analysis and opportunity identification. These analyses identified very clearly where we can achieve the savings and where the opportunities are.
Mr Smyth: How much will they cost?
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, you have had your opportunity to speak.
MR CORBELL: The government has always been very clear that the government will use those analyses to finalise its approach in action plan 2, weathering the change, which will be released next year. So the government has been very clear about the process moving forward. This is not a figure we have plucked out of the air. This is a figure based on detailed analysis, based on the science and based on a clear understanding that the target is achievable.
Climate change is redefining the trajectory of what we understand as growth and development. It is also giving us the opportunity to realise win-win outcomes where the economy, the environment and societal wellbeing can be achieved through mutually inclusive means. The government is proud to be a champion of this change. We want to support a sustainable ACT, to establish a solid platform for a low-carbon economy, so that the ACT, our children and their children will be well placed to meet the challenges of the future.
To achieve this, we have introduced this bill. The bill sets out ambitious targets for the territory, but we know they can be reached if collectively we are committed and if we act, and act now. Each of us doing our part as individuals, businesses, organisations and as a government can achieve carbon neutrality for the territory. And as we embrace a new era of growth and development we will create the need for new skills, clean jobs, sustainable practices supported by energy efficiency and renewable technologies. Acting now is an investment in our future. We will be setting the ACT up to meet the opportunities and challenges of the future.
In the midst of the challenges that climate change has created, I believe it has given us an opportunity to review fundamentally how we go about our day-to-day lives. Internationally, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recommended a 25 to 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels by developed countries. The Stern review on the economics of climate change stated:
Delaying action risks getting ‘locked into’ long-lived high carbon technologies. It is crucial to invest early in low carbon technologies.
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