Canberra, US commit $170m to aid climate
Just seen in the Melbourne Age: Canberra, US commit $170m to aid climate
Australia and the United States will together spend about $170 million developing environmentally friendly projects aimed at slashing pollution levels. Australia will contribute $100 million over five years, while the US will chip in an initial $US52 million ($A69 million) next year.
Green groups have criticised the summit for failing to adopt any targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and claim Australia has made only a token financial gesture to address the problem.
Out of the $100 million committed by Australia, $5 million will be spent on supporting the AP6 [the six-nation Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate] while $80 million will go to clean development projects and $15 million for capacity building.
[Prime Minister John Howard] noted that a report released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE) appeared to back the push by AP6 to get big business to do more to help reduce greenhouse pollution.
The report said that by adopting cleaner technology, greenhouse emissions in the AP6 nations would fall 20 per cent by 2050.
20% reductions by 2050! Can we wait that long? The power of the Kyoto Protocol is it demands reduction targets and provides a mechanism we can use now to tackle the root causes of climate change directly. This AP6 plan is a whitewash and the money they are committing is chump-change in the war on climate change.
— DS
Technorati Tags: Australia, climate change, global warming, politics, AP6, USA
