Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Duniam's contribution deserves a response. The biggest crisis we face is the climate crisis. We know it has been one of the great challenges of our time. I asked senators to read and acknowledge a report put out by the Climate Council this morning, Code blue: our oceans in crisis. It's very topical for today's debate and for the legislation that's before us. Senator McAllister talks about reaching net zero and international obligations under the London protocol. We also know that the International Energy Agency has made it very clear that the only way we're going to achieve our 1.5 degree warming target is to leave all new fossil fuel projects in the ground. But here we are today in the Australian Senate taking the first steps towards facilitating certainly one of the biggest carbon bombs in this nation's history, the Barossa project, but potentially many others.

I want to run through this Climate Council report very briefly. The authors were Wesley Morgan, Simon Bradshaw, Tishiko King, Jane Gardener, Lesley Hughes, Professor David Karoly and Gretta Pecl, who I'm sure Senator Duniam knows is a very well respected Tasmanian scientist on the IPCC panel.

The key findings of the report, of which there are six, are very important. The first finding is:

The health of the planet's oceans, and human survival, are intrinsically linked.

And they go into a bit of detail and background on why we need to pay attention to what's going on in the oceans. For a lot of people, what goes on under the sea is out of mind and out of sight, but I can tell you, from the work that I and many other scientists and other senators have been doing—fisheries and a whole range of things—things are radically changing under our oceans with climate change.

The second point they make is:

The world's oceans are absorbing mind-boggling amounts of excess heat resulting from human-induced global warming.

to put that in context for Australians. The report goes on:

By absorbing so much heat, the ocean has lulled us into a false sense of security, masking the true extent of human interference in the climate system. It is now beginning to buckle, with serious consequences.

I am well aware of these serious consequences, and I know most Australians who live in coastal communities are also well aware. The report goes on:

The oceans are also absorbing more than 30 percent of the extra carbon dioxide emitted from human activities, slowing its build-up in the atmosphere. However, as emissions rise, the ocean will become less effective as a carbon sink.

The third key point they make is:

Abrupt and concerning changes to the ocean are now starting to outpace scientific predictions. Experts are deeply worried—

including the experts who wrote this report. I have been to Senate inquiries and heard leading climate scientists say: 'Senator, we got it wrong. The step changes we are seeing are much worse than we ever predicted.' And we can see that in the physical world around us, if we just open our eyes and look. The report goes on:

In a survey of 30 ocean and climate scientists around the world, more than half said ocean changes are occurring faster than models projected.

There's some honesty there. They don't have all the information. There are uncertainties in any model. But these scientists are saying that they're consistently underpredicting or underestimating the impacts. The report goes on:

Almost two-third … said ocean surface temperature changes are happening faster than expected and more than half … said loss of Antarctic sea ice is happening faster than expected.

Every scientist surveyed expressed extreme or very high levels of concern about the impact climate change is having on the world's oceans.

The fourth point is:

Marine heatwaves are becoming more severe and frequent, with devastating consequences for iconic coral reefs—

like the Great Barrier Reef—

kelp forests—

the loss of 95 per cent of Tasmania's giant kelp forests in the last decade is a classic example, with warming oceans and invasive pests—

and other marine ecosystems.

The incidence of marine heatwaves has doubled since the 1980s.

Marine heatwaves have already caused mass deaths of key species along 45 percent of Australia's coastline. Australia's giant kelp forests have declined—

as I just mentioned, including other forests, such as golden kelp, seagrasses and crayweed—a whole range of critical habitat for our productive fisheries. The report goes on:

Parts of the ocean could reach a near permanent heatwave state by the end of this century, unless urgent action is taken to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

Point 5 of the report is:

Coastal communities across Australia and the Pacific are all threatened by warming oceans and ocean acidification, from robbing us of our big ocean playground, to decimating entire communities.

Global sea levels have risen 20cm since the start of the 20th century, with the rate of rise accelerating.

Australia's … sandy shorelines are projected to retreat by around 100m by the end of the century.

Low-lying Pacific atoll nations face threats to habitability and food security from sea level rise.

and this has been proven—

the size of Sydney rock oysters.

Point six says:

Urgent action is needed to protect our oceans and limit warming, starting with rapidly phasing out coal, oil and gas.

I'll say that again: we need to start with rapidly phasing out coal, oil and gas. Why are we debating legislation today that enables more coal, oil and gas? In the light of this report and everything we can see with our eyes wide open, why is the Australian parliament passing legislation in 2023 to facilitate more oil and gas development?

The report says:

our legislative target, by the way, is 43 per cent—

and reach net zero by 2035.

That's not 2050; it's 2035. It goes on:

That includes putting an end to new fossil fuel developments.

Our oceans may also harbour climate change solutions. There are things that we can work on, such as mangroves and coastal wetlands and expanding marine protected areas. More support is urgently needed for communities to adapt to ocean changes. I will give a very quick plug to the fantastic report of the environment committee recently on exactly how we can adapt to marine invasive species like the black long-spined sea urchin from New South Wales.

What it doesn't say in this report is that we need carbon capture and storage. It doesn't say we need carbon capture and storage in our plan to decarbonise our planet, to meet our climate targets and to take action and make sure that future generations of this country can experience what I've experienced in my lifetime and see what I have seen under the water and in the landscape. It is very sad that we are delivering to future generations a future of climate emergency that is only going to get worse. But, nevertheless, here we are.

I am nearly finished, Senator Hanson. You've sat very patiently through my speech. This legislation today undermines climate action. It has been deliberately put to this Australian Senate to facilitate more fossil fuel development. Apparently, these new projects need carbon capture and storage, a technology that hasn't been proven to have worked commercially anywhere around the planet, a technology that would only, at best, sequester scope 1 or 2 emissions and not scope 3 emissions. (Time expired)