Archive for January, 2010
Minister for Climate Change and Water
Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong has announced in relation to the Australia Copenhagen Accord pledges that “Consistent with our commitment to do no more and no less than the rest of the world, we are today submitting our existing target range: 5 per cent unconditional, with up to 15 per cent and 25 per cent both conditional on the extent of action by others, as set out in May last year.” The Government has said they will not raise the pledge above 5 per cent until the commitment levels of other countries becomes clear.
posted by ruby on January 29, 2010 at 5:18 pm · filed under 
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wildlife Fund is accusing the Australian government of moving too slowly on climate change in the lead up to the annoucement of country pledges to the Copenhagen Accord on Sunday. WWF believes that even if other countries submit mitigation targets at the bottom of their ranges, the conditions for Australia to lock in a 15 per cent cut by 2020 have already been met. Yet the Australian Government refuses to move its minimum reduction above five per cent. WWF-International has released the report ”The Copenhagen Accord: A Stepping Stone”, which analyses how the world might begin the journey from the political agreement of the Copenhagen Accord to an internationally binding climate treaty in Mexico City in December.
posted by ruby on January 29, 2010 at 4:51 pm · filed under
The Wilderness Society
The South Australian Government has announced it will protect a vast area of the Nullarbor Plain under the Wilderness Protection Act. The Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area will cover 900,000 hectares, and is the largest semi-arid karst cave system in the world.
posted by ruby on January 29, 2010 at 4:39 pm · filed under 
Australian Conservation Foundation
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is calling for the removal of billions of dollars of fossil fuel subsidies and investment in a clean, low carbon economy and the environment in its recent Federal Budget submission. Citing the examples of the Fringe benefits tax (FBT) concessions for company cars and subsidies for fossil fuel use which cost Australian taxpayers “more than $2 billion dollars per year while damaging our environment,” the ACF are calling for a range of measures including sustainable transport funding and A National Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Fund to build the health of Australian ecosystems to protect them from the impacts of climate change.
posted by ruby on January 29, 2010 at 4:33 pm · filed under
The Age
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has reported a sharp rise in complaints over companies advertising misleading ‘green’ credentials, and is urging the government to pass legislation that would give it the ability to financially penalise companies which it has found have mislead customers on “green issues.”
posted by ruby on January 27, 2010 at 8:20 pm · filed under
The Age
Two men from the Gold Coast have put up their own money to fly controversial climate skeptic Lord Christopher Monckton, who has been labelled “fringe” by the scientific community, to Australia. One of the men tolf the Age that the issue of climate change “has got nothing to do with science - it has to do with power and politics.”
posted by ruby on January 27, 2010 at 8:15 pm · filed under
ABC News Online
Professor Garnaut has told ABC Radio that the Federal Government’s controversial Emissions Trading Scheme is unlikely to pass parliament, and that the government should call a double dissolution election to break the deadlock. Garnaut has also put his support behind the Greens proposal for an interim carbon tax.
posted by ruby on January 27, 2010 at 8:03 pm · filed under
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