Page 3723 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
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emissions make any significant difference? The answer is that we simply do not know. But based on what we have been told so far, we are doubtful.
I note that within the presentation speech, Minister Rattenbury referred to the goals of other jurisdictions, including Sweden, Hawaii and Iceland. The minister I fear might have an inferiority complex regarding the size of his target. I encourage him not to take up the mine-is-bigger-than-yours approach with everything related to climate change. After all, it is not about the size of the goal but whether it is right for Canberra and Canberrans.
So whilst the Canberra Liberals will not be opposing this amendment, we flag the concern that the amendment is little more than an opportunity for the minister to go to a COAG meeting and brag to his colleges about the size of his target. The Canberra Liberals will be keeping a very close eye on the strategies released in the coming months and years to ensure that our targets are achievable, reliable and affordable.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (4.45): I rise to speak in support of this bill. On 5 October 2016 a momentous occasion occurred: the necessary pre-conditions for the Paris climate agreement to come into force were met. At least 55 parties who collectively represented at least 55 per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions ratified the agreement. To date, 180 parties of the 197 have ratified the agreement.
We could very easily say, “Then Trump happened”. However, in reality President Trump’s actions are not as significant as we might think. When President Trump withdrew the USA from the Paris Agreement, it only strengthened the response from state and local governments. Some 350 US mayors pledged to reach 100 per cent renewal energy for their communities by 2035. In fact, it was mayors who led the way on the Paris Agreement.
In December 2015, 1,000 mayors across the globe met in Paris to pressure national representatives to agree to climate action. The group adopted a declaration recognising the important role local and regional governments play in reducing carbon emission. The declaration states:
We commit collectively to support ambitious long-term climate goals such as transition to 100 per cent renewable energy in our communities, or 80 per cent gas emissions reduction by 2050.
This commitment from local governments has remained. The Under2 Coalition encompassed 205 local governments in 2017, with over 100 state and regional governments disclosing their emissions data and climate goals. The coalition recognises that while national governments negotiated the Paris Agreement, state and regional governments are central to delivering the goal of limiting global temperature to less than two degrees Celsius.
It makes sense that our state, territory and local governments are the ones taking action on this. It is in our cities, town and regions that the impacts of climate change are realised: the farmers struggling through the drought; the bushfires and floods
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