Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Australian Greens amendment (1) on sheet 5786:

• (1)     Clause 3, page 3 (line 10), at the end of subclause (3), add “including the provision of financial support to developing countries for nationally appropriate mitigation actions and adaptation”.

This amendment pertains to financial support for developing countries. This amendment proposes to add to the objects clause the words ‘including the provision of financial support to developing countries for nationally appropriate mitigation actions and adaptation’.

We canvassed the background to this in a fairly peripheral way last night, but the issue here is that everyone recognises that, for a successful global agreement to address global warming, there needs to be a recognition not only that there has to be an adequate target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also that equity has to be addressed. It is vital that equity become an instrumental part of any agreement reached in Copenhagen, and it is absolutely certain that there will be no agreement if it is perceived to be unfair.

The inequalities that are already there are clear. Developed countries are already responsible for approximately 76 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions already released into the atmosphere. Per capita rates of greenhouse gas emissions are significantly higher in developed countries than in developing countries. For example, the average Australian emits nearly five times as much as the average Chinese, and the average Canadian emits 13 times as much as the average person in India. About 100 countries with a total population of nearly one billion people but less than three per cent of the emissions will have to suffer the effects of climate change impacts in the near term. Developed countries have greater economic capability to make the adjustments that are needed to reduce emissions. For example, the US GDP per person is about 10 times that of China and about 19 times that of India.

One of the frustrations in the negotiations to date leading up to Copenhagen is that developed countries have not laid on the table a very clear statement of their level of ambition with regard to a financial mechanism. I think it is important, in the objects clause in Australia, not only that we have a target for greenhouse gas emissions but also that we have a legislated commitment to provide financial support to developing countries for nationally appropriate mitigation actions and adaptation.

Last night we indicated that the European Union has said that, globally, €5 to €7 billion will be needed per year over the three years from 2010 to 2012. Recently, at the pre-COP ministerial meeting, the Japanese announced a fast start-up finance figure of $9.2 billion out to 2012.  For the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown is already offering a deal on finance which includes 800 million over three years for the Climate Investment Fund for 2008 to 2011. I ask the minister about Australia’s position on this. It is no use saying that Australia will do its fair share. We know that the negotiations start Saturday week, so it is no use trying to say that we do not have a position. We clearly must have a position if we are going to the negotiations in a week’s time. The negotiating team must have its instructions from the government.

I would like to know whether the government is going to support this amendment, which is an in-principle amendment to commit financial support. What is Australia’s view about the amount of money that needs to be on the table globally from developed countries for fast start-up finance between 2010 and 2012 and, more particularly, what do we think we need overall out to 2020? I know the minister said last night that there are a number of possible criteria that might be used to develop a formula for an appropriate level of financing. They could include capacity to pay, the demonstration of early action, the historical legacy, population growth—a range of things. I would like to know, from the Australian team, what formula we intend to be negotiating around. I might leave it there for the moment in order to get some answers to those questions about what we have on the table and the parameters of the formula that we are pursuing.