Australia has blown its emissions target for this century in just five years, according to a report published today by the Australia Institute.
At the same time – like a husband buying flowers to mask his infidelity – PM John Howard has announced a 627 million AUD package to tackle climate change.
More than half the package will be spent on ‘green vouchers’ for schools, which can be used to install solar hot-water systems and rainwater tanks.
Mr Howard has also promised a cap and trade emissions trading scheme by 2012 to tackle climate change on a national level – but has given no indication as to what the ‘cap’ will be and when this will be decided.
“By 2010, which is the earliest possible date for the introduction of the Federal Government’s national emissions trading scheme, more than half of this budget will be gone, leaving approximately 46% of the budget for the remaining 90 years,” said Andrew Macintosh, author of the think-tank’s report.
Australia accounts for less than 0.3% of the world’s population yet produces 1.43% of global CO2 emissions – more than four times its share proportionally. And according to the Australia Institute, the country needs to reduce emissions by more than 60% by 2020 and 90% by 2030 just to stay within budget.
