Courier Mail
Tuesday 21/4/2009 Page: 18
CLIMATE Change Minister Penny Wong has refused to go "back to the drawing board" on her contentious emissions trading scheme, but will support cuts to global emissions that are tougher than her own policy. In a speech to the Lowy Institute yesterday, a steadfast Senator Wong who is under pressure from within her party and from business and environmental groups to dump her scheme warned she would not back down.
Senator Wong outlined her vision for a global agreement when nations meet in Copenhagen in December, and mapped out how Australia could contribute. She called for a greater effort to stop deforestation, saying: "If we are able to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at 450 parts per million or lower, then we need to ensure ... (the) agreement provides incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation".
Senator Wong argued all sectors be covered under an agreement, although the proposed scheme only includes 75% of sectors. And under the Government's legislation, greenhouse gases will be cut from five to 15% on 2000 levels by 2020. Modelling by the Government's hand-picked economist on climate change, Ross Garnaut, said cutting emissions by 550 parts per million would mean reducing emissions by 10 % . Under a global agreement of 450 parts per million, 25% cuts would have to be agreed.
Senator Wong said a global agreement needed to be fair, comprehensive and broaden the number of countries taking on commitments. "To be fair, countries need to take on comparable commitments and actions, considering their national circumstances," she said. However, Greens deputy leader Christine Milne argued that Senator Wong's rhetoric did not mirror the Government's legislation. "Penny Wong is increasingly sounding like a used car salesman, desperately calling out, 'a deal this good can't last for ever', when no one wants to buy the beat-up old gas-guzzler," she said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment