Media release - 27 September
2013 - The Australian Government acknowledges
and appreciates the release today of the
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report on the physical
science basis for climate change.
The Report's findings
reinforce the Government's bi-partisan support
for the science and the targets set for
emissions reductions.
Key findings from the
Report include:
A 95 per cent probability that humans are
contributing to climate change.
Projections that temperatures could rise
from 0.9 degrees Celsius at the bottom of
a low emissions scenario to 5.4 degrees
Celsius at the top of a high emissions scenario
by the end of the Century (compared to a
1850-1900 baseline).
The likely range for Equilibrium Climate
Sensitivity (how much average global temperature
is expected to rise after a doubling of
atmospheric CO2 concentrations) is now deemed
to be 1.5 - 4.5 degrees Celsius, a revision
from the Fourth Assessment Report which
provided a range of 2.0 to 4.5 degrees.
Sea levels have already risen 19 cm since
1901 and projections for sea level rises
range from 0.28 metres at the low end of
a low emissions scenario to 0.98 metres
at the top end of a high emissions scenario
by 2100 (compared to a 1986-2005 baseline).
Global air temperature over the last 15
years has been rising at a lower rate than
the average since 1950 but the last decade
has nonetheless been the hottest on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology
has advised me that for Australia:
2011 was 0.13 degrees below the 1961-90
temperature average;
2012 was 0.11 degrees above the 1961-90
temperature average;
2013 is currently on track to be the second
hottest or hottest recorded year experienced
since 1910.
The Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO
have played an important role in the development
of the latest IPCC report and thirteen Australian
scientists are Lead Authors, Coordinating
Lead Authors or Review Editors of the Report.
Against this background,
the irony of the carbon tax is that Australia's
last international submission showed that
between 2010 and 2020 our domestic emissions
rise from 561 to 637 million tonnes. It
is why we have opposed a Carbon Tax and
will repeal it. Under the ALP's carbon tax
electricity prices go up but emissions go
up. It is the wrong policy approach and
the sooner it is scrapped, the better.
The Government will
proceed with its Emissions Reduction Fund
to ensure Australia meets the emissions
reduction targets by 2020.
+ More
Streamlining Government
Processes by Dissolving the Climate Commission
19 September 2013 -
Minister for the Environment the Hon Greg
Hunt has announced that the Climate Commission
will be dissolved today.
As part of the Coalition's plans to streamline
government processes and avoid duplication
of services the Commission's function to
provide independent advice and analysis
on climate change will be continued by the
Department of the Environment.
The Minister spoke to
Professor Flannery Chief Commissioner this
morning to personally advise him of the
decision.
I would like to recognise
the efforts of the Climate Commission in
providing information on climate change
to the Australian public and thank all the
Commissioners for their work.
Letters informing the
Commissioners of the decision have been
sent today.
In Opposition the Coalition
indicated publicly the Climate Commission
did not have an ongoing role as it believed
that providing advice on climate change
is the role of the Department of the Environment.
This decision will save
the Budget $580,000 in 2013/14 and an annual
funding of up to $1.6 million in future
years.
