Australia needs more action on climate: Stern
By James Grubel
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia needs to urgently ratify the Kyoto Protocol and slash its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 percent by 2050 to help fight global warming, British climate economist Nicholas Stern said on Wednesday.
The former World Bank chief economist said the cost of inaction could be catastrophic, but rich countries were recognizing the problem of global warming with firm emissions targets now set by Britain, France, California and the European Union.
Australia, though, alongside the United States, has refused to ratify the Kyoto pact, which sets goals for lowering the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warning, and has refused to impose binding targets on carbon emissions.
"What Australia can do now ... is set a target for reductions by 2050 of at least 60 percent as part of a rich world responsibility," Stern told Australia's National Press Club.
Canberra's refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol had held up international collaboration on climate change, he said.
But Prime Minister John Howard told parliament on Wednesday he refused to set any binding greenhouse targets that would hurt the Australian economy or its position as the world's second largest exporter of thermal coal.
"I am simply not going to agree to proscriptions that are going to damage the future of the Australian economy. And I'm not going to agree to proscriptions that are going to cost the jobs of Australian coal miners," the conservative leader said.
If Australia ratified the Kyoto protocol, the country would be put at a competitive disadvantage compared to countries which lacked a strong resources sector, Howard added.
During his visit to Australia, Stern has met Howard and centre-left Labor opposition leader Kevin Rudd, who has promised to ratify Kyoto if he wins elections due late this year.
After six years of drought across much of Australia, and with water shortages in the country's major cities, climate change is shaping up as a key election issue.
Stern said rich nations needed to commit to curb greenhouse emissions by between 60 and 90 percent by 2050, with many countries starting to recognize the need for urgent action.
The U.S. state of California has set an 80 percent reduction target by 2050, Britain has agreed to cut its emissions by at least 60 percent, while the European Union will cut emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020.
"There's starting to be a realistic judgment on the kinds of ambitions that the rich countries have to set themselves," Stern said. "And I think there is a growing recognition in the poor countries as well."
In a far-ranging report released last year, Stern said that stabilizing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would cost about 1 percent of global output by 2050, but failure to act could cost 20 times that amount.
