Fed: Government dodging emission targets Greenpeace

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2000
Fed: Government dodging emission targets Greenpeace

By Linda McSweeny and Max Blenkin

CANBERRA, April 13 AAP - Greenpeace today accused the federal government of trying
to dodge world greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

The accusation came as the federal government appointed a carbon broker to handle its
Bush for Greenhouse program, aimed at promoting international investment in carbon sinks
in Australia.

Carbon sinks involve planting trees to store carbon, a major greenhouse gas emitter.

Under the government plan, countries could invest in carbon sinks in Australia rather
than cut their own fossil fuel emissions.

The carbon broker contract has been awarded to a consortium of Ernst and Young, Greening
Australia and Landcare Australia.

Greenpeace said Australia was pressuring other countries to support its push to use
carbon sinks as the solution to climate change problems.

"Australia is pursuing sinks in a fanatical and theological way," Greenpeace International's
climate policy director Bill Hare told reporters.

He said the government was pushing Melanesian countries into adopting its stance in
the lead-up to high-level talks in Perth next week.

"We are extremely concerned that Australia's manoeuvring at this high-level forum next
week is aimed at seriously undermining the environmental effectiveness of the protocol
in exchange for protecting Australia's fossil fuel industry from emission reduction policies,"

Mr Hare added.

A leaked Australian Greenhouse Office document showed building support for sinks was
the overall aim of the government going into the Perth talks.

Greenpeace said this would only threaten the protocol, whereby industrialised nations
are to ratify an agreement to cut back emission levels by 2010.

But Environment Minister Robert Hill said the government was interested in good outcomes
by reducing emissions at their source.

"Our approach is to use all opportunities that are open that will lead to a better
carbon outcome, a less intense carbon outcome and therefore hopefully slow the rate of
global warming," Senator Hill said.

"But to dismiss sinks is, to us, silly because net carbon content is really what counts."

AAP lm/mb/mfh/hu

KEYWORD: GREENHOUSE

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