Although December’s Copenhagen climate change summit produced an underwhelming result, the event in itself has placed a far greater global emphasis on the need for action than we have ever seen before.
After 13 days of talks and two years of negotiations, representatives of 192 nations set a goal limiting warming to two degrees Celsius and earmarked $30 billion a year for poor countries to adapt to climate change from 2010 to 2012, and $100 billion a year by 2020.
However, they failed to reach an agreement on global emissions targets or to identify a year by which emissions should peak.
Countries represented at the summit have until 31 January to decide whether they will sign onto the global accord, and if so, what their individual emissions targets for 2020 will be.
The result may not be as strong as hoped, but it is a significant step forward. The summit is the first time in history that all the big greenhouse gas polluters in both rich and poor nations have come together to take action to slow the threat of climate change. In addition, coverage of the event lead up and its occurrence in mainstream media has highlighted climate change, along with its associated effects and predictions, bringing environmental management to the forefront of conversation in everyday lives and households.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will announce Australia’s emissions target in February when other countries lodge their pledge to the accord. Both he and Minister for Climate Change Penny Wong have said Australia will do no more, but no less than what the rest of the world is doing.
In line with this, they expect Australia’s emissions target commitment to be somewhere in the range of five and 25 per cent.
In the face of this uncertainty, it is crucial that councils remain focused on their own ambitious targets and individual efforts to reduce emissions, with any legislation more of a certainty to ensure everyone is on board.
As Australian Local Government Association President Geoff Lake states in his overview of 2010 (see page 1), Local Government must also be willing to work with other councils and spheres of government to ensure its approach is robust, consistent and achievable.
Many opportunities exist in terms of resource sharing, information sharing and collaboration.
Australia is among the hottest and driest continents on earth, so the effects are felt here first and hardest. As a nation, we must therefore work to ensure we achieve a strong global agreement on climate change, but we must also ensure we take action in our own localities, businesses and homes.
2010 is no doubt set to be the year of making commitments, and we must all work together to ensure these commitments are followed through.
The next conference of the parties will be held in Mexico during 2010 at a date to be determined.
