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Australia told to further cut greenhouse gas emissions
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-05 15:47 Climate Change Minister Penny Wong ruled out changing the government's policy of reducing emissions by 60 percent. "We have been clear on what our target is, and can I say it's a very substantial target," Wong told reporters. Environmental groups Australian Conservation Foundation and The Climate Institute dismissed the 550 ppm target as too high. Both urged the government to set an emission reduction target for 2010 at more than double the 10 percent proposed by Garnaut. 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 climate change. But the government has yet to decide on what price to charge polluters. Garnaut said a permit for creating 1.1 US ton (one metric ton) of carbon dioxide should cost 20 Australian dollars (US$16). That price should be increased by 4 percent a year. Garnaut predicted that would be close to the international price for polluting if a global free market in carbon-trading emerges from United Nation's agreement on the 550 ppm target. He said he hoped the agreement would be reached at a UN climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in December next year. Rudd hopes to unveil his government's final blueprint for an Australian carbon trading scheme in December and introduce legislation to Parliament next March. 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. |
