Antinuclear

Intergenerational Report fails to consider the impacts of climate change beyond 2020.

Intergenerational Report goes backwards on climate change KELLIE CAUGHTABC Environment 6 Mar 15 Despite projecting Australia’s future out to 2055, the Intergenerational Report failed to consider the impacts of climate change beyond 2020.

IT’S UP TO THIS generation, including our political leaders, to do the right thing to protect the people and places we love.

Despite this, the 2015 Intergenerational Report has failed to outline concrete, long-term steps to address one of the greatest threats facing our children — climate change.

There’s no plan to future-proof Australia, and the budget, against the worst impacts of climate change. Instead, it’s a missed opportunity to build on the 2010 report which highlighted climate change as among the top three challenges to Australia’s long-term economic sustain ability. To give perspective, the 2010 report mentioned ‘climate change’ more than 80 times. The 2015 report, just 19 times.

It relies on the Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund as the key policy until 2020, but lacks a plan beyond this. There are no projections of the costs of climate impacts, and no clear pathway for Australia to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and sensibly transition towards zero carbon pollution (net) by 2050………

In 2014, Australia became the first country to remove its price on carbon. Before the repeal the carbon price contributed to a 1.4 per cent fall in carbon pollution in the 2013/14 financial year. If we are to provide a better future for our kids, Australia should be cutting its carbon pollution by at least 25 per cent by 2020 and at least 40 per cent by 2025 (below 2000 levels).

Australia will be one of the countries hardest and fastest hit by climate change. Unless we show a commitment to our future generations now, they will bear the brunt of these impacts. The 2015 Intergenerational Report failed on climate change. Yet, by acting soon and alongside others in Paris, Australia still has the opportunity to correct this for the sake of our children, and grandchildren.

Kellie Caught is Climate Change National Manager for WWF-Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2015/03/06/4192607.htm

March 7, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming