2015-06-10
Chilla Bulbeck
Millions of lives and livelihoods depend on Australia's commitments that Julie Bishop, member for Curtin, takes to the UN climate talk in Paris later this year.
There are four ministers responsible for preparing the intended emissions reduction targets (INDCs), which Australia will release in July. They are the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott; the minister for Industry, Ian McFarlane; the minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt; and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop — who will be lead negotiator at the talks.
I happen to live in Julie Bishop's electorate of Curtin in WA. I also happen to be the convenor of Curtin's Climate Action for a Safe Environment or CASE.
We take heart from the fact that Julie Bishop insisted on Australia's representation at the UN climate talks in Lima in November. We believe that Julie Bishop is intelligent and wants Australia to be respected in the international community.
In a meeting with me, the minister accepted that we must stop global warming from exceeding two degrees above preindustrial level threshold.
That's a good start.
Community campaigning
Curtin's CASE was formed by community members in the Curtin electorate because of the unique opportunity to have a conversation with Julie Bishop – as both our local member and Australia's lead negotiator at the UN climate talks this year.
Curtin's CASE is not a political organisation. In fact we would live in a cleaner safer world if commitment to reducing global warming had strong tri-partisan support. However, our project does appeal to Greens members and supporters.
Over the course of a month we collected 4300 signatures on a petition we delivered to Ms Bishop in late May. The petition asks that Australia commits itself to fossil fuel emission reduction targets as recommended by the Australian government's Climate Institute, with the first commitment being 19 per cent on 2000 levels by 2020. The Coalition has previously committed to a reduction in Australia's emissions of 'between 5 and 25 per cent' on 2000 levels. It has now lowered that commitment to only a 5 per cent reduction.
We are now aiming to get 1000 form letters signed and sent to Ms Bishop. We have 600 so far.
In a number of schools, primary and secondary, government and non-government, classes are writing letters to Julie Bishop to add to the tally. Almost all the schools in Julie Bishop's electorate of Curtin teach sustainability, recycling and so on. Many also have classes on fracking, fossil fuels and climate change.
Australians want renewable energy
We have been pleasantly surprised at the high support for our petition and letter campaign. Between 75% to 90% of the people we approached signed the petition, including self-declared Liberal voters who said the government was not doing enough about climate change. Many compared Australia's inaction unfavourably with that of other countries. We amplified these conversations with discussions about the high-risk economic gamble the government is taking with young people's future jobs, the expansion of a key growth industry in manufacturing and services, and the country's technological and scientific development as we steadfastly refuse the renewable energy future the world is embracing.
For example, the proposed emission reduction targets from the European Union are 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030; from the USA, 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025; and from China a proposal to produce 20 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Even Bangladesh plans to be entirely solarised by 20201.
While Australia only emits 1.3 per cent of global emissions, this still puts us at 13th place in global emissions. Furthermore, along with Saudi Arabia, we have the highest per capita emissions in the world.
What next?
CASE is aiming for 1000 letters to Ms Bishop by our deadline of end of June. Some people when we say, 'Will you sign a letter to Julie Bishop about climate change?' almost tear the folder out of our hands in their enthusiasm.
If you want to write a letter, write to:
Hon. Julie Bishop MP,
PO Box 2010, Subiaco, WA, 6904
You can also take our Paris Pledge, saying that you support a target that's in line with the science: 40-50% by 2025, 40-50% by 2030 and net-zero pollution by 2040.
Image: 'French delegation' delivers more than 4300 signatures to Julie Bishop asking for effective action on climate change. Photo: Grant Taylor