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Aus shies away from targets
10/12/2007 12:52 - (SA)
Sydney - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday said his country will make no firm commitment on cutting greenhouse gas emissions until next year, despite his decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Rudd is due to address a crucial UN conference on global warming in Bali on Wednesday, where delegates last week applauded the new Australian government's move to sign up to the international landmark agreement on global warming.
But he told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Brisbane on Monday that Australia would not set any emission reduction targets until he received a report next year from economist Ross Garnaut on the economic impact.
"As I said prior to the election, when it comes to the determination of our targets, they will be driven by the outcomes of the Garnaut report," Rudd said.
"I intend to show leadership in this area, and it will be done on the basis of sober, careful decision making on the way through."
The prime minister said the government was following a series of steps on climate change, beginning with ratifying the Kyoto protocol, his first official act after being sworn in, and then being part of negotiations in Bali.
The UN conference on the Indonesian island will attempt to forge a roadmap for a new deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol commitment period ending in 2012.
Delegates from about 188 nations at the meeting do not have to commit to legally binding targets at this stage as they try to agree a format for negotiations which should be concluded by 2009.
Global warming - which scientists say is shrinking polar ice caps, causing sea levels to rise and threatening plant and animal species - is widely seen as one of the most serious long-term threats facing the world today.
- AFP
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