Page 342 - Week 01 - Thursday, 27 February 2014
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(d) OECD climate modelling indicates that we will reach 685 ppm by 2050 and temperatures will be 3-6 degrees higher by 2050;
(e) NASA states average global temperatures have increased by around 0.77 degrees Celsius since 1880, and that January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest decade on record;
(f) the Federal Government Environment Department states that the ACT will be impacted by climate change in the following ways:
(i) annual rainfall could decline by up to 10 per cent by 2030 and 25 per cent by 2070, relative to 1990;
(ii) the ACT is likely to experience rising temperatures and a greater number of extreme hot days as a result of climate change, increasing from 5 days currently to up to 26 days by 2070 without global action to reduce emissions; and
(iii) an increase in temperature and evaporation is also likely to increase the days of very high or extreme bushfire risk from 23 days currently to between 26 and 29 days in 2020;
(g) the impacts of climate change will require targeted management of our urban and non-urban environments to ensure that these areas are habitable;
(h) Australia’s per capita emissions are amongst the highest in the world, nearly twice the OECD average and four times the world average;
(i) the ACT’s emissions are primarily from the electricity and transport sectors;
(j) the most effective ways to reduce the ACT’s greenhouse emissions are to reduce electricity consumption, and decrease reliance on coal-fired electricity while increasing consumption of renewable energy;
(k) as a city with one of the highest standards of living in the world, we have a strong moral imperative to reduce our emissions; and
(l) in 2010, all political parties in the Legislative Assembly supported greenhouse gas emission reduction targets of at least 30% by 2020; and
(2) the Members of the 8th Assembly recommit to supporting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the ACT of at least 30% by 2020 on 1990 baseline levels.
Just over three years ago we had a debate in this place that committed all of the political parties represented here today to strong action on climate change. The ACT Greens, along with the Labor Party, supported targets of 40 per cent emission reductions by 2020 on a 1990 baseline while the Canberra Liberals supported a target of 30 per cent by 2020. It was not ideal that the Canberra Liberals did not support the 40 per cent target, but it was reassuring that the target they were advocating was, by
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