Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to provide the House with a very quick snapshot of the most comprehensive global scientific assessment report on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released on Friday, 2 February this year. The emissions scenarios in this report are based on business as usual. They do not include any additional climate change initiatives. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Program to assess scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant to the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.

Key findings of the scientific report in relation to past climate change include that warming of the climate system is unequivocal—as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level—and that 11 of the last 12 years, from 1995 to 2006, rank among the 12 warmest years since 1850. Key findings of the scientific report on future climate change show that mean temperatures are likely to rise by 0.6 to 0.7 degrees Celsius by 2025, 1.3 to 1.7 degrees Celsius by 2055, and 1.7 to four degrees by 2095.

As a consequence, for Australians living from Bermagui to Port Hedland, from Botany Bay to Alice Springs, it is very likely that there will be more hot, extreme periods and heatwaves—and heavy rainfall in some regions, but regrettably not in the south of Australia, will also become more frequent. Especially for people in the north-west, in the north and in Far North Queensland—in towns like Broome and Cairns—it is likely that future tropical cyclones will become more intense with higher peak wind speeds and heavier rainfall.

What does the rise in average temperatures mean for Australia? The Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change—consisting of BP, Origin Energy, Swiss Re and others; and recently supported by the National Farmers Federation—commissioned CSIRO to quantify climate change impacts on Australia. The CSIRO report Climate change impacts on Australia and benefits of early action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions confirmed that the economic impacts are potentially significant and widespread, affecting a wide range of industries. The most significant economic impacts were on the agricultural and tourism industries. The business roundtable report The business case for early action noted:

The $32 billion tourism industry is highly climate dependent. For example, the Great Barrier Reef supports a $1.5 billion industry but with a 2-3°C increase in temperature, 97% of the Reef could be bleached ...

The report continued:

The $17 billion of exports from the livestock industry face risks from more heat stress, more pests and disease; national livestock carrying capacity in native pasture systems falls by 40% if temperatures increase by 2°C ...

At a critical time as far as our future management of water is concerned, the report says:

A 2°C increase in temperature would reduce water flows in the Murray-Darling Basin and to Melbourne, by about 15%. Based on a 20% reduction in Australian irrigation allocations, GDP is projected to fall by around $750 million in 2009/10.

The issues that we face in this country in relation to climate change are profound and real. The issues that we face in this country in terms of potential economic loss are also real. When asked about the IPPC projections of a possible four to six degree Celsius increase over the coming century, the Prime Minister’s response was that it would be less comfortable for some than it is now. I want to state again clearly in this parliament that this is a statement which clearly does not comprehend the scale of the risk to the Australian community that climate change poses. The requirement upon this government to act resolutely on climate change as a consequence of this expansive report is great. If the Howard government will not take decisive action to address climate change then a Rudd Labor government will.