Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator Hanson-Young today relating to climate change.

Today we heard from the Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, a very clear and sobering warning about the situation that the world faces right now. Secretary-General Guterres told the world that we need to lift our ambition urgently, quickly and seriously if we are to tackle the collapse of biodiversity and the climate before it really is too late. He said: 'This is an epic policy test. But ultimately this is a moral test.' He said that if we continue with the denial, continue to think that action does not need to be taken urgently and we can push things off to the latter half of this century, we are risking suicide. He said that it would be 'suicidal' to continue to deny the action science tells us we need to take. Secretary Guterres has called for countries to take more action and be more ambitious in relation to our 2030 emissions reduction targets. He has called on us to do whatever we can to make sure we meet net zero emissions.

Rather than going with a 2050 target, it's quite clear that, if we are to tackle the climate crisis, the extinction crisis and the death of this planet, we have to bring forward that target, to much, much earlier. The goal posts have shifted. As to debating about whether 2050 is the appropriate time frame for net zero emissions—we've missed the boat. We have to make that decision much, much earlier. It needs to be at least 2035, if not earlier. Yet we've got our government refusing to engage in a proper strategy and the action to reduce our pollution to help address the climate crisis in the time frame that we have left. We have 10 years to take action.

The UN's dire warnings today should not simply be dismissed. In fact, what we're seeing now is that countries right around the world are focusing their minds, sharpening their actions and forcing countries like Australia to justify our ignorance. There is nowhere left to hide. We've just had, of course, the very clear message sent from President-elect Biden that we need to come to the UN conference next year in Glasgow with a much more ambitious attempt—with commitment and action to tackle climate change and reduce carbon pollution.

We now have the head of the UN saying that, if we don't do this, we risk the death of the planet. He says: 'The state of the planet is broken.' He talks about the impact on food security and on conflict, saying that now climate change is not just risking the health of our environment, with more extreme weather and the expansion of deserts and the choking of our oceans, but that climate change is going to be the biggest driver of conflict around the world, with the displacement of people and the conflict that flows from that.

I asked the Minister representing the Prime Minister whether this government understands how dire this situation is. I asked the Prime Minister, through Senator Birmingham, whether he understood that we needed to get to net zero emissions by at least 2035. I asked the Prime Minister, through Senator Birmingham, whether we were going to improve our action towards 2030 and have a more ambitious target, and I asked the Prime Minister, through Senator Birmingham, whether the government would rule out using Kyoto carryover credits. On all three of those questions, the minister refused to answer. And why? Is it just ignorance? Is it because they're too busy faffing about and they do not understand their own policy, or are they just hoping that, if they continue to turn a blind eye to the facts, the crisis will somehow disappear? We need climate reality from this government, and all we've got is climate— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.