Antinuclear

Australia’s Climate Commission is dead. Long live Australia’s Climate Council!

The decision to axe the commission has delighted climate sceptic opponents of Flannery but has horrified several academics, who have raised concerns that the government isn’t interested in providing the public with independent, credible information on climate change.

Axed Climate Commission to be resurrected as Climate Council Tim Flannery says new body will be privately funded thanks to ‘overwhelming’ support of Australian public Oliver Milman theguardian.com, Tuesday 24 September 2013 The Climate Commission has been resurrected just days after its highly controversial axing by the Coalition government as a new, privately funded body called the Climate Council, after being “overwhelmed” by support from the Australian public.

Tim Flannery, outgoing head of the commission, told Guardian Australiathat he and the other commissioners – who include the climate scientist Will Steffen and the former BP executive Gerry Hueston – had been “deluged” by emails and calls from people pledging financial support.

“We haven’t got a huge amount of money in the bank, but there’s enough seed money there for us to get started and then put in place a subscription model to see us through,” said Flannery, who declined to name the initial backers of the venture.

“The people who contacted us feel very strongly that they don’t want to be left in the dark over climate change. We’ve had hundreds of people get in touch from, I must say, across the political spectrum, from hardcore libertarians to the deepest greenies. You would be astonished to know who is supporting us.”

Flannery, who last week said he was “dismayed” by the scrapping of the commission and said the Australian public was being denied the right to know climate change information, won’t draw a salary from the Climate Council. Flannery previously earned $180,000 a year for his chief commissioner role……..

The decision to axe the commission has delighted climate sceptic opponents of Flannery but has horrified several academics, who have raised concerns that the government isn’t interested in providing the public with independent, credible information on climate change.

Political opponents also weighed in, with the Labor leadership contender Anthony Albanese calling the decision “shocking” and the Greens leader, Christine Milne, branding prime minister, Tony Abbott, a “climate criminal” for his dismantling of climate change agencies.

The Climate Council will operate by taking an annual fee from backers in return for a continuation of its work, which has so far produced 27 reports on the various impacts of climate change. A report based on the much-anticipated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings, which are set to be released on Friday, is being worked on.

Flannery rejected the suggestion that the Climate Council could become beholden to special interest donors, in a similar manner to the much-criticised Heartland Institute in the US, which has sought to challenge the science of climate change with the aid of cash from wealthy corporate backers.

“It will be in our constitution that we will not accept money from anybody that tries to tie us or influence us in any way,” Flannery said. “Our independence is our credibility, so we will be very clear on that.”

Flannery also held out an olive branch to the government, revealing that he would be speaking to the environment minister, Greg Hunt, about the rapid re-establishment of the commission.

“The previous government set us up with a particular objective, to inform the public about climate change,” he said. “Hopefully, the current government will welcome us as a provider of information to them. It’ll be a service they won’t have to pay for. We’ll be like a volunteer fire fighting force, so to speak.”……… http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/23/climate-commission-resurrected-as-private-body?CMP=soc_568

September 23, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming