Page 1709 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018
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This motion calls on the ACT government to continue to improve the sustainability of our city by supporting everyone in our community to reduce their energy consumption. In particular, though, this motion asks that we make sure that as we transition to a clean energy future we include everyone, and not just those who are best able to afford it. In short, this means we must make sure the most vulnerable Canberrans, such as lower income households, are included in our efforts.
I spoke at length on the dangers of climate change last sitting period when I moved a motion on virtual power plants. It is important that we as a government continue to take action to address global warming and continue to talk about why its remediation is such a priority. The last five years have been the hottest on record. The 2016-17 Australian summer broke 205 climate records, and the 2017 winter broke 260 heat and low rainfall records. Once considered an ever-enduring heat sink that could help regulate the human impacts on climate, our oceans, we now realise, are suffering from unprecedented high sea surface temperatures. With the data we are collecting, we are beginning to learn more about how it all fits together: how, despite Australia’s relative size, being assessed as having the highest level of climate pollution per person can and does impact on the global climate; and how Australia increasing its greenhouse gas emissions for the third consecutive year in 2016-17 needs addressing through meaningful reform and strong leadership.
I spoke last sitting period about the remarkable weather pattern that took place globally earlier this year. The UK experienced freak snowfalls and temperatures about seven degrees lower than the historical average while the Arctic Circle experienced unseasonably warm weather at 10 to 20 degrees above average. This resulted from warm air entering the Arctic displacing the freezing air that usually sits above the North Pole. This was due to huge thunderstorms in the Pacific a month earlier, which in turn came about because of well above average temperatures warming the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The thunderstorms also resulted in Cyclone Gita, which caused flooding on New Zealand’s South Island in February, capping off a remarkable chain of events.
The decisions we make—as individuals, as communities, as cities, states and territories and as a country—feed into this chain of events and influence the climate both here and abroad. We can no longer hide behind the fact that we only contribute 1.24 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases. Set against the fact that Australia only makes up 0.32 per cent of the global population, this should ring alarm bells for us all.
We know better than this. We are every day learning more and more about the interrelatedness of the global climate and the role each and every one of us plays in the system. That is not some ideological premise; rather, it is the findings arising out of scientific research.
We are seeing the impacts of global climate change here in the ACT, with changes to weather patterns becoming more and more apparent. The changing climate means more extreme weather, with higher highs and lower lows. And, given the ACT is in one of the most divergent climate zones in Australia, reaching highs of 35 degrees Celsius plus and lows in the minuses, we will have a significant task to cool and heat
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