Greg Combet (Charlton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am endeavouring to answer the question. The Climate Commission finds that sea level has risen by 20 centimetres globally since the late 1800s, impacting on many coastal communities. It finds that another 20-centimetre increase by 2050, which it finds is likely at current projections, would more than double the risk of coastal flooding. The Climate Commission finds that the Great Barrier Reef has suffered from nine bleaching events in the past 31 years, and of course that iconic ecosystem and the economy that depends on it face serious risk from climate change.

The Climate Commission goes on to traverse the evidence about human activity, and particularly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, contributing to what we are experiencing. The Climate Commission finds that there is a very large body of observations, experiments, analyses and physical theory pointing to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, with carbon dioxide being the most important as the primary cause of the observed warming. All governments have to take this into account in responding to this challenge, and Australia needs to play its part along with other nations. (Time expired)

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