26 November 2007 - Australia
— It was an unprecedented election campaign
in Australia. Every party was forced to take
a position on climate change. In the end,
Labor was victorious - boosted by a pledge
to sign the Kyoto Protocol and generate 20
percent of Australia's energy from renewable
sources by 2020.
The Kyoto Protocol is the world's only international
agreement with binding targets to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. John Howard, the outgoing Australian
Prime Minister, refused to sign it. Kevin
Rudd, the new Prime Minster, made it an election
issue.
Howard lost. He was even defeated in his
home district, losing his seat in Parliament
- something that's happened to a Prime Minister
only once before in Australian history – and
that was in 1929.
It's clear Aussies care about climate change,
and with the issue central to the Australian
Labor Party's winning campaign, the nation
will want and expect to see real action on
the issue, and fast.
Ratifying Kyoto is a good first step. But
the key indicator of the new government's
success will be if emissions begin to decrease
during this term, and the only way that is
possible is to rid Australia of its addiction
to coal.
The next round of Kyoto negotiations is only
a week away. When the US delegation shows
up in Bali, Indonesia, for the talks they'll
be isolated more than ever. Rudd's decision
to sign Kyoto leaves the US as the only major
industrialized nation refusing to commit.
"Climate scientists are telling us that
emissions of greenhouse gases must peak in
just seven years - 2015 - and then be reduced,"
said Shane Rattenbury, Greenpeace International
political director. "We expect that when
Kevin Rudd goes to the Bali negotiations in
two weeks' time, he will take a position of
leadership rather than being the destructive
force that Australia has been over the past
decade."
