Danes Push for Aussie ETS
The Danes believe that Australia passing the ETS the Copenhagen summit begins on December 7 because it would create leverage with countries like the USA. They believe that the ETS is the main way of reducing greenhouse emissions and organisers do not want a repeat of the Kyoto climate pact, where many countries promised to cut emissions but did not do so.
The Australian government wants the scheme passed by parliament before Copenhagen and is putting the ETS laws to the House of Representatives on Monday.
But the Senate has an important reviewing job to do and many senators from a variety of backgrounds feel that there are serious flaws in the scheme and it needs to effectively reduce emissions without crippling the economy and giving unfair permits to large polluters.
Even though there is a real and urgent danger, we should not be rushed into legislation unless there is real evidence that it will work to improve energy efficiency in Australia. It is hard to see how this will be achieved while the coal industry is protected and new coal mines continue to be opened.
There are real problems with the Kyoto Protocol and we must ensure that these are not perpetuated in Copenhagen. The agreement needs to be flexible enough to allow for emerging and future technology to be included and it needs to prevent clearing forests and control the rush to plant crops and palm trees for biofuels which in many cases increase rather than decrease emissions.
I also believe that there is a need to accept that environmental sustainability is going to be different in different countries and it is the target that needs to be legislated for father than prescriptive rules to cover us all regardless of where we live.
The chance of securing a legally-binding treaty is low, and negotiations are at a stalemate because countries can’t agree on who should do what to cut emissions, and who should pay.
Negotiators are now aiming for a political commitment to tackle climate change at Copenhagen, which they hope will be finalised – and turned into a legally-binding treaty – next year.
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