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Australia commit to at least 25%
Last week, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet announced that Australia will sign the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol remains the only legally binding global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The second phase of the Protocol is a vital bridge towards a more ambitious and comprehensive global climate treaty to be implemented by 2020. It will also help to ensure that those developing nations suffering severe climate impacts continue to receive global assistance.
Australia’s announcement that it will sign Kyoto 2 is great news but there’s still work to do. Australia is expected to announce its emissions reduction target on Monday.
Previously Australia pledged an unconditional target of a 5% emission reduction on 2000 emission levels by 2020. But this bare minimum target just isn’t good enough to avoid runaway climate change.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), globally developed countries (the Annex 1 Parties to the UNFCCC), including Australia, must collectively reduce their emissions by 25% to 40% below their 1990 levels by 2020 in order to limit global warming to 2°C.
Australia needs a strong target of at least 25% to really make Kyoto count and to keep global warming under 2°C.
Australia’s targets are not set according to the Kyoto framework, which calculates emission cuts as a percentage of 1990 emission levels.
Instead, Australia’s unconditional target of 5% is calculated with respect to Australia’s 2000 emissions levels. This is because Australia experienced a marked increase in its emission levels between 1990 and 2000.
Australia does have two conditional targets of 15% and 25%.
Australia’s 15% target has been made conditional on access to more comprehensive carbon markets (emissions trading).
Given that Australia now has an ETS, and has managed to link its ETS with the European Union ETS (the biggest carbon market in the world), it seems as if the conditions for a 15% reduction target may have already been met.
The 25% target is conditional on a global deal including the USA and major developing economies like China and India.
Negotiators in Doha are working towards a global deal which includes the major emitters like China, USA and India and is set to come into force by 2020.
As such, Australia could announce a 15% target for Kyoto, with the option to increase this to 25% pending international developments.
However, this kind of commitment still falls short of Australia’s contribution (as a developed country) to move into the IPCC 2°C ‘safe range’ of a 2020 reduction to 25-40% below 1990 levels.
We need a strong target of at least 25% to really make Kyoto count.
Other countries have already pledged higher targets than Australia, including:
South Africa (a non-Annex 1 Country with an economy in transition), who has pledged to reduce around 34% by 2020 and around 42% by 2025.
Japan has proposed a target of 25% relative to 1990 emissions by 2020.
Norway has a 2020 commitment of at least 30%, with an option of 40% conditional on a global agreement.
Other countries have pledged ambitious targets in excess of 25% reductions pending the negotiation of a global agreement.
So, how do we get Australia to commit to 25%?
We need to show the government negotiators here in Doha that Australians want deeper, faster emissions cuts.
We’ll be presenting a photo petition to Greg Combet and the Australian negotiators next week – add your voice by taking a photo of yourself (and your friends!) with a creative representation of the number “25″ or “25%”.
We took one this morning – what do you think?
Email your photos to us at [email protected], and we’ll present them to the Australian negotiators early next week.
It’s really important that we show the negotiators how many young Australians support a strong target of at least 25%. Share your photo on facebook and twitter (#makekyotocount) and get your friends and families involved!
Thanks for your help everyone!
Written by Max, Basha, Sam, Katie, Lovisa, Tash, Nayuka, and Hayden – the AYCC International Team.
PS: Don’t forget to share your photos on facebook and twitter (#makekyotocount), and email them to us at [email protected] before Tuesday
The AYCC is building a generation-wide movement to solve the climate crisis
www.aycc.org.au
2012-11-27 08:23:38
Source: http://aycc.org.au/2012/11/26/australia-commit-to-at-least-25/
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