Extract from ABC News
Posted
A host of countries including Australia are preparing to sign the Paris climate agreement, and in theory, it could make a huge difference.
In practice, everything depends on countries not just signing up to it, but also acting on it.For the Paris agreement to become binding under international law, 55 countries must ratify it.
But it is not just the number of countries, it is the amount they emit.
The signatories must represent at least 55 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
As it turns out, more than 160 countries are sending their people to New York to sign the Paris agreement — the biggest signing of an international treaty ever.
But it is still just one step in the long journey to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Historic climate deal
- Deal to limit global warming to "well below" 2C, aiming for 1.5C
- Greenhouse gas emissions need to peak "as soon as possible", followed by rapid reduction
- Deal will eliminate use of coal, oil and gas for energy
- Fossil fuels to be replaced by solar, wind power
- Developed countries to provide $US100b a year from 2020 to help developing nations
- Read about more highlights of the deal
"There is a risk that Australia is signing an agreement which it is unable fully to comply with," University of Sydney international environmental law expert Professor Tim Stephens said.
"Australia's current emissions reduction target of around 26 per cent to 28 per cent reduction on 2005 levels by 2030, is just not consistent with the Paris agreement goal of keeping global average temperatures well below 2 degrees.
"So there is a problem. There is a credibility gap between Australia's signature of a treaty on the one hand and what it's actually doing to comply with its commitments domestically."
Australia does not have a great track record in this area.
In 1997, the Howard government negotiated and signed the Kyoto protocol but did not ratify it.
"For many years, the Kyoto protocol was left languishing and it was not until the election of the Rudd government in 2007 that Australia finally ratified the Kyoto protocol," Professor Stephens said.
Even then, the Kyoto Protocol only became binding in 2005 after Russia got on board.
That is not the only sticking point.
Countries will also be required to submit updated climate plans to the UN every five years, each more stringent than the last.
Certainty either side of politics will meet agreement 'needed'
The Climate Institute's chief executive officer John Connor agrees Australia's current target will not even get us over the first hurdle."At the moment, what we're seeing is emissions on the rise, clean energy investment is sluggish at best, and we have a commitment from the Government that would have us on a per capita basis up there with Saudi Arabia alone in the G20, as the highest per capita polluters," Mr Connor said.
He said, with an election on the horizon, Australians need certainty either side of politics will meet the Paris agreement.
"We do want the Government and ALP to come up with a proper plan how we're going to drive this country to zero emissions and below, how we're going to clean up our energy sector in particular, how we're going to replace our big clunky coal burning power stations with clean energy within a couple of decades," he said.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt flew to New York on Thursday. He said Australia will "meet and beat" the first target in 2020.
Before flying out, he told Lateline the Government's target for 2030 was one of the highest emissions reductions targets on a per capita basis in the world.
"Once we sign in New York, we will then move immediately to begin the process of ratifying the Kyoto agreement and also the Paris agreement," he said.
"So those two things are in train. And the Paris agreement we hope to have ratified as soon as possible and to be one of the countries to have achieved it this year."
As for Labor, its Environment spokesman Mark Butler said we can expect an announcement soon.
"We've been consulting with scientists and experts in industry and other groups about what a proper target should be to match the commitment in the Paris agreement. So we'll be making our position very clear about that," Mr Butler said.
Professor Stephens said regardless of when the agreement is ratified, it will be useless unless government policy is changed.
"No independent analysis that has been done has confirmed that the Government's direct action policy, its emissions reduction fund, its still-in-progress safeguards mechanism, can actually allow Australia to meet its commitments," he said.
"So there is a real danger Australia is signing an agreement it can't abide by."
No comments:
Post a Comment