Council’s commitment to conservation and action on climate change continues as we inch closer to our goal to be carbon neutral by the end of next year.
At the end of this month the UK, along with Italy, will host the 26th United Nations summit on Climate Change in Glasgow.
More than 190 world leaders are expected to attend, along with thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens for 12 days of talks.
Many are saying that this is the world’s last best chance to get climate change under control. I couldn’t agree more.
As the saying goes ‘talk is cheap’ and what is needed is genuine and decisive action.
Progress has been varied since the Paris Agreement was formulated in 2015 when countries agreed for the first time to work together to limit global warming to below 2 degrees, with the aim of reaching 1.5 degrees.
Australia released its plan for how it intends to achieve the target by ‘reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 per cent to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Comparing targets between member countries is complicated, however Australia’s targets have, on more than one occasion, been described as less ambitious than most developed nations.
There is also ongoing debate about whether our current policy settings are enough to achieve those targets.
Both the Climate Institute and the Federal Government’s Climate Change Authority have weighed in on the issue.
The timing of the Glasgow Summit presents a real opportunity to right the ship and transition to a more sustainable future.
Only government policy can deliver the pace and scale of reductions needed to limit the worst impacts of climate change.
It will require a new level of leadership, based on scientific targets and ambitious investments by both government and the private sector to meet those goals.
It’s great to see the Queensland Government commit to net zero emissions by 2050.
This is just the start and I call on all levels of government to put words into action.
