Aus urged to cut greenhouse gas
2008-09-29 12:31
Sydney - Several prominent Australian climate scientists urged the country's prime minister on Monday to go beyond the expected recommendation of a key climate change adviser and dramatically slash Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Ross Garnaut, an economist commissioned by the government to investigate how Australia should respond to climate change, is to present a final report on how the country should deal with carbon emissions on Tuesday. His draft report, released earlier this month, recommended an 80% cut in emissions by 2050, and a 10% cut by 2020.
But on Monday, 16 scientists - including Roger Jones, who helped write a UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report - urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to step up efforts to slash emissions and aim for a 25% reduction by 2020.
"Other nations have taken action and have committed to further action," the scientists wrote in a letter to Rudd, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and Environment Minister Peter Garrett. "We urge you to act decisively to maintain global momentum and to protect Australia's future."
Rudd was elected last year on a promise to aim for 60% cuts in emissions by 2050 - a more ambitious goal than the 50% agreed on by leaders of the Group of Eight industrial countries in July.
The government has vowed to introduce a so-called carbon trading scheme by 2010 designed to give companies a financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, believed to contribute to global warming.
Australia is one of the world's worst carbon dioxide polluters per capita because of its heavy reliance on abundant coal reserves. As the driest continent after Antarctica, it is also considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.
- SAPA