Inadequate emission target spells disaster for world’s poor

World Vision has condemned the Federal Government’s emission reduction target range of five to 15 per cent of 2000 levels by 2020 as woefully inadequate and a disaster for the world, especially the poor. 

World Vision’s chief executive officer Tim Costello said Australia should commit to the greatest and most rapid reductions that we could manage to maximise the chance of securing an effective, fair, global deal to rein in climate change. 

“We should commit to reducing our emissions by as close as possible to 40 per cent below 1990 levels, by 2020 in order to prevent a global humanitarian, economic and security catastrophe,” he said. 

“What Australia does directly impacts developing countries, because emissions know no boundaries. While Australia emits only 1.4 per cent of the world’s emissions that could be enough to push the climate system past a tipping point. 

“Climate change has been primarily caused by emissions from developed countries. Poor people are the least responsible and yet climate change will impact the poor first and hardest. 

“If things continue as they are, it will undo decades of development work.” 

The number and the scale of humanitarian crises linked to climate change and environmental degradation are likely to increase and rising sea levels will threaten many of the world’s poor. A sea-level rise of just one metre would displace around 145 million people, inundating some of the world’s best farmland. 

Storm surges are already travelling further inland and are more destructive because sea-levels are higher than 100 years ago. The storm surge from cyclone Nargis in Myanmar travelled 35km inland and flooded more than 14,400 sq-km. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that up to 600 million people in Africa and more than one billion people in Asia are likely to be short of water and suffering declining crop productivities by the 2050s unless emissions are drastically reduced. 

Mr Costello said water and food shortages and population movements resulting from climate change could trigger serious regional conflicts. 

“If climate change continues unabated, we can expect conflict over food, water and refugees. In Darfur protracted drought has contributed to the conflict,” he said. 

“If we can address climate change, we will help prevent future conflict.”

Media contact: Tamara Blackmore: 03 9287 2211 / 0400 689 714