10-12 Arena Mag #103

4 LEAD GRAPHIC • • • • • Climate • Justice ? • Cam Walker • ........................................... • • • The developed world must lead in 1992. Awareness that climate change was posing • a serious threat to humanity and our ecosystems • the charge in combating climate led to commitment to develop a global response— AGAINST • in 1997 the Kyoto Protocol became the implement- THE CURRENT • change. • ing mechanism for taking action. This was a As climate change bears down on us, the public historic moment because the Protocol accepted • debate about this most pressing question has • the rich world had caused most of the world’s perhaps never been so confusing and muddied. At • environmental problems and hence expected the • the national level we have had the grinding debate Climate Justice rich would go first in accepting binding green- • over the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and house gas emissions. Shameful lobbying by the • the very public civil war within the Coalition Howard government resulted in Australia getting • about whether climate change is even caused by permission to actually increase its emissions, Cam Walker • human action. We have the mad suggestion that despite the glaring reality of our carbon debt to • Victoria could develop its own export industry the rest of the planet, especially the developing • for our dirty brown coal, and vigorous argument • world where per capita emissions are so low. Cam Walker is the about whether so-called clean coal technology • campaigns co- Industry lobbyists will be at Copenhagen in their • will ever actually be viable. And there is, of ordinator for • course, huge debate about the climate change thousands, and will find common cause with Friends of the Earth • negotiations about to be held in Copenhagen. countries that rely on fossil fuels, and the laggard in Melbourne. • nations not prepared to step up to the challenge The overall goal for the COP15 United Nations • of global warming. As the Australian national • Climate Change Conference is to establish an debate shows, leaders in the debate run the risk of • ambitious global climate agreement for the period being bullied back into line, so there is little • from 2012, when the first commitment period incentive for any political party to announce deep • under the Kyoto Protocol expires. Key leaders, and unilateral emissions reductions targets before • like Barack Obama and Kevin Rudd, have been the meeting. Australia’s paltry 5 per cent • warning the global community for months not to ‘unconditional’ reductions target is indicative of • expect much from these talks. They believe an • the lack of leadership we are seeing from agreement on how to set reduction targets is still • developed nations generally. • too hard, although the gathered leaders can at • least move forward on developing a framework. After the most recent preparatory talks in Barcelona, it was clear that a significant number • The UN Framework Convention on Climate • of developed nations were not only being Change grew from the Earth Summit held in Rio • cautious in their commitments, they were • • • • • ................................................................... effectively undermining the chances of getting to • agreement on developing a binding global • agreement. In its assessment of these talks, • A fair and effective Friends of the Earth International said: • • climate solution We have seen rich countries continually • seeking to ditch emissions targets under the • requires, at a minimum, Kyoto Protocol. They are tearing down an • existing, legally binding international • that developed countries framework, which has taken years of • negotiation to establish, in an attempt to • repay their adaptation wriggle out of their responsibility to cut their • emissions first and fastest. • debt to the developing • The several preparatory meetings held during • countries, providing 2009 only became more frustrating as • momentum was continually checked, and an • finance and technology increasingly bitter divide between rich and poor • • countries emerged. After the last two meetings, • to ensure full negotiations were deadlocked. Some environment • NGOs have seen the deadlock as potentially • compensation for losses ‘catastrophic’. The Alliance of Small Island • already suffered and the Nations has been increasingly vocal on the need • for deep emissions reductions, while a growing 12 2009–1 2010 • number of African nations have challenged the • means to avoid or Nº 103 slow pace of negotiations, but there simply has • • minimise future impacts. not been sufficient momentum to push the 5 world’s leaders to the point of accepting the inevitable: and effective climate solution requires, at a minimum, that deep cuts in greenhouse pollution now while enshrining developed countries repay their adaptation debt to the the right of all nations to fair, sustainable development. developing countries, providing finance and technology to ensure full compensation for losses already suffered and the So, should we ‘adjust our sets’ and just expect less from means to avoid or minimise future impacts. World Bank the Copenhagen meeting? Even some environmental figures suggest the absolute minimum figure allowing for groups have suggested as much. Or do we accept what fair adaptation is US$50 billion a year. This could be climate science is telling us: that to have any hope of allocated according to a nation’s historical emissions and avoiding dangerous climate change, we must reduce ability to pay. emissions now? Globally, our ecological footprint exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate by about 30 Australia is already being hit by climate change. Bushfires, per cent. If present trends continue, by the mid-2030s floods and droughts are going to get worse unless we take we will require the equivalent of two planets to meet our strong global action. Our Pacific neighbours?already needs. The fact remains that global warming is a global threatened by sea level rise?have been joined by over fifty issue and therefore requires a co-ordinated global countries in setting a benchmark for how much carbon response, and this must take the form of a new global pollution can be in the atmosphere. Australia should join agreement. This agreement should recognise that rich them at Copenhagen and set a global target well below 350 countries have done the most damage to our climate and ppm; our present target of 450 ppm would devastate the that they should take action first. In addition, it should: planet if adopted globally. Australia can show it is serious • commit wealthy industrialised countries (listed in about climate change by declaring a national moratorium on Annex I of the Protocol) to at least 40 per cent cuts coal power and coal mining and implementing a just in emissions domestically by 2020, by using green transition for workers in the coal industry. energy, sustainable transport and farming, and by A wealthy minority of the world’s countries and cutting energy demand corporations are the principal cause of climate change; its • refuse to sanction reductions through the buying of adverse effects fall first and foremost on the poor majority. carbon credits from developing countries or buying This basic and undeniable truth forms the foundation of forest in developing countries to ‘offset’ ongoing the global climate justice movement. Climate change emissions in the industrialised world threatens the balance of life on Earth and with it human • require rich countries to provide additional monies communities everywhere, so addressing climate change for developing countries to grow in clean, green ways requires urgent action by all people, rich and poor, in all and to cope with the floods, droughts and famines countries, developed and developing. But to be both just caused by climate change and effective the response must be fair. Developing • ensure that such monies are distributed fairly and countries and communities are unlikely to ignore the transparently. historical responsibility of the developed world for the The wealthy industrialised world should take causes and consequences of climate change. responsibility for repaying the full measure of its Friends of the Earth campaigners will be writing throughout the climate debt. Doing so is not merely right—it also Copenhagen meeting. Go to <www.foei.org/en/blog/>. provides the basis of an effective climate solution. A fair National School Curriculum Rob Durbridge .................................................... The politics of curriculum Education Minister Julia Gillard gets areas include classroom teachers, media praise for pushing on with the but the exclusion from the board of in Gillard’s ‘Education national curriculum and cites it as an any representatives of 250,000 Revolution’. early gain in the ‘Education Revolution’. public and private teacher unionists The reform is being implemented by a is deliberate. News Ltd outlets in The introduction of a national new national body, Australian particular advocate the removal of curriculum for schools was a goal of the Curriculum and Reporting Authority union influence from education Howard government that was adopted (ACARA), under the leadership of policy. ACARA’s proposals for the by the ALP and is strongly promoted by education consultants and entrepreneurs national senior secondary the media and employers. In the name Barry McGaw and Tony McKay. The curriculum have caused concern due of this logical goal, right-wing new body is responsible for the K-12 to

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