UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a sober warning in Madrid which other nations are taking seriously.Credit:Getty
Whether the Paris rules will allow the use of Kyoto credits is under negotiation right now. A ban is proposed as an option in the latest negotiating text,but it seems unlikely to come through. The Australian government has too much riding on it,and UN decisions are by consensus.
We are the only country planning to “carry over”. Almost all countries that care are opposed to it. It reminds the world of the “Australia clause” which the Howard government pushed through at the 1997 Kyoto summit,allowing Australia to count land-use change reductions. It is what created the Kyoto carry-over credits in the first place.
The Australian delegation will insist on"carry-over"and this will come at a diplomatic cost. Australia will need to ask a favour from almost all other nations in a forum where the nation now has little to offer,and which the Prime Minister disparaged in recent speeches. It may affect bilateral relationships more broadly. It has come up in the free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union.
The reason is that many of our trading partners take seriously the warning by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Madrid conference:"We need a rapid and deep change in the way we do business,how we generate power,how we build cities,how we move,and how we feed the world. If we don’t urgently change our way of life,we jeopardise life itself."
The expectation is that the 2030 targets will be strengthened,not watered down. Australia should pledge to meet the Paris target without Kyoto credits,or greatly increase the ambition of Australia’s target. It would be best to do both.
This is possible with pragmatic policies for electricity,transport,buildings and agriculture. Helping the transition from coal power to renewables along will see continued reductions in electricity sector emissions. Facilitating the shift to electric vehicles will cut emissions and improve urban air quality. Building energy efficiency can be improved. Cleaner and more efficient technologies can be used in industry and agriculture. Marginal grazing lands can be planted to increase carbon stocks.
Actually cutting emissions would help position Australia to succeed economically in the future low-emissions world economy. There is a grand vision of Australia as a large-scale zero emissions energy exporter based on our renewables advantage,but this will work only if we are seen as a constructive player on climate.