George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Indeed I can inform Senator Ruston of the MOU on Climate Change Cooperation, which was announced by the Chinese government and my colleague Ms Bishop on behalf of the Australian government yesterday. The government reaffirmed its commitment to real and effective action on climate change. At the centre of the government's response to reducing emissions is the $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund. The MOU signed yesterday with Mr Zhu Zhixin, vice-chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, is an example of our readiness for constructive engagement with major partners to address the challenge of climate change. The NDRC is China's primary economic planning body. It is a powerful player in China's economy.

The MOU was first signed by Foreign Minister Downer in 2004 and has developed to include an annual ministerial dialogue and regular officials meetings. Under the MOU, the Chinese and Australian governments have conducted ongoing dialogue on a wide range of issues, including energy efficiency, technology cooperation, agriculture, climate change science and, most recently, collecting and managing greenhouse gas emissions data. No matter what ambitious emissions targets you aspire to and the policies or laws you introduce to reduce our greenhouse emissions, you must be able to measure and account for them in a reliable way. Our work with China is helping to set up the systems that are required to do that and to guarantee Australia's compliance with its obligations.