Post by Steve Gardner on Nov 28, 2007 2:09:40 GMT
Source: Nature
Published online 26 November 2007
Newly elected prime minister intent on changing Australia's climate stance.
Stephen Pincock
Australia’s new prime minister Kevin Rudd has wasted little time getting to work on an election pledge to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse-gas emissions.
Rudd, a 50-year-old former diplomat, led the Labor party to an emphatic victory in Saturday’s election, claiming 83 of the 150 seats in the lower house of the national parliament — up from 60 at the last election in 2004.
The following day, Rudd reiterated his promise to ratify the climate protocol by Christmas. Ousted leader John Howard had steadfastly refused to back the pact throughout his 11-year tenure.
"Australia now has an opportunity to be part of the leadership on the issue of action on climate change," says Denise Boyd from the Australian Conservation Foundation in Melbourne. "Before, they’ve been a laggard."
Quick action
Rudd held meetings with government officials on Sunday to discuss the administrative details of exactly how to go about ratifying the treaty. His deputy, Julia Gillard, told reporters it was an executive action that did not need parliamentary approval.
"Ratifying Kyoto we can do without the parliament sitting," she said. Rudd will be moving forward with it "very soon" she added.
In his first days in office, Rudd also confirmed that he plans to lead Australia's delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali next week. This meeting will see the United States as the sole developed nation that still shuns the Kyoto process.
John Connor, chief executive of the Climate Institute of Australia in Sydney, says the country’s changed stance is already causing ripples in the international climate scene. "It will be a huge boost to the Bali negotiations to have one of the blockers change into a real supporter," he says.
Changing weather
Climate change has been a defining issue in the election campaign, which was conducted during what government officials have said is the worst drought in Australia's recorded history.
Exit polls conducted on Saturday confirmed its importance, notes Connor. Among 2,500 people surveyed as they left polling stations, the economy and health were the top two issues, with climate change and industrial relations equal in the third spot, he says.
“It is clear that climate change was a top-tier issue in the election,” says Connor. “Rudd has a responsibility, and we believe an intent, to take a leadership role on climate change.”
On the domestic front, Rudd has vowed to establish interim targets for an emissions-trading regime by mid-2008, and to set a uniform mandatory renewable energy target by the end of next year. But no details have yet been released; and details, says Connor, will determine the success of the effort.
Australia had originally negotiated a generous allowance of an 8% increase over 1990 greenhouse emissions by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol, despite not ratifying the agreement. They have been on track with this target, but Connor says Rudd’s government should aim to have greenhouse emissions actually declining within five years, and ensure that all new electricity coming into the 'baseload' grid is from clean sources.
Published online 26 November 2007
Newly elected prime minister intent on changing Australia's climate stance.
Stephen Pincock
Australia’s new prime minister Kevin Rudd has wasted little time getting to work on an election pledge to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse-gas emissions.
Rudd, a 50-year-old former diplomat, led the Labor party to an emphatic victory in Saturday’s election, claiming 83 of the 150 seats in the lower house of the national parliament — up from 60 at the last election in 2004.
The following day, Rudd reiterated his promise to ratify the climate protocol by Christmas. Ousted leader John Howard had steadfastly refused to back the pact throughout his 11-year tenure.
"Australia now has an opportunity to be part of the leadership on the issue of action on climate change," says Denise Boyd from the Australian Conservation Foundation in Melbourne. "Before, they’ve been a laggard."
Quick action
Rudd held meetings with government officials on Sunday to discuss the administrative details of exactly how to go about ratifying the treaty. His deputy, Julia Gillard, told reporters it was an executive action that did not need parliamentary approval.
"Ratifying Kyoto we can do without the parliament sitting," she said. Rudd will be moving forward with it "very soon" she added.
In his first days in office, Rudd also confirmed that he plans to lead Australia's delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali next week. This meeting will see the United States as the sole developed nation that still shuns the Kyoto process.
John Connor, chief executive of the Climate Institute of Australia in Sydney, says the country’s changed stance is already causing ripples in the international climate scene. "It will be a huge boost to the Bali negotiations to have one of the blockers change into a real supporter," he says.
Changing weather
Climate change has been a defining issue in the election campaign, which was conducted during what government officials have said is the worst drought in Australia's recorded history.
Exit polls conducted on Saturday confirmed its importance, notes Connor. Among 2,500 people surveyed as they left polling stations, the economy and health were the top two issues, with climate change and industrial relations equal in the third spot, he says.
“It is clear that climate change was a top-tier issue in the election,” says Connor. “Rudd has a responsibility, and we believe an intent, to take a leadership role on climate change.”
On the domestic front, Rudd has vowed to establish interim targets for an emissions-trading regime by mid-2008, and to set a uniform mandatory renewable energy target by the end of next year. But no details have yet been released; and details, says Connor, will determine the success of the effort.
Australia had originally negotiated a generous allowance of an 8% increase over 1990 greenhouse emissions by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol, despite not ratifying the agreement. They have been on track with this target, but Connor says Rudd’s government should aim to have greenhouse emissions actually declining within five years, and ensure that all new electricity coming into the 'baseload' grid is from clean sources.