This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/sci/tech/7782919.stm

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Australia sets new climate target Australia sets new climate target
(about 7 hours later)
Australia has said it will start a carbon trading scheme by the middle of 2010, despite appeals from the business community for a delay. Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan will cover 75% of the country's emissions. These include cutting emissions by at least 5% by 2020 and a carbon trading scheme to be implemented by 2010.
It has also announced that it will cut greenhouse gas emissions by between 5% and 15% by 2020, from the 2000 levels. But the proposals were immediately denounced by critics as inadequate, with the Green Party calling them a "global embarrassment".
Australia has the highest per capita levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world, due to its heavy use of coal for generating electricity. Coal-reliant Australia has the highest per capita levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world.
It's a total and utter failure - it's madness John HepburnGreenpeace On Saturday, a UN climate change conference wrapped up in the Polish city of Poznan, the halfway point in a two-year process aimed at reaching a deal in Copenhagen by the end of 2009. Mr Rudd promised a new era of Australian leadership on climate change when he came to office last year.
That agreement is supposed to have two major elements - an expanded Kyoto Protocol-style deal committing industrialised countries to deeper emission cuts in the mid-term, perhaps by 2020, and a longer-term agreement encompassing all countries. He signalled a break from the past by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, something his predecessor John Howard had refused to do.
UN link But he now stands accused of curtailing his environmental policy in order to limit the impact on Australia's coal industry and the wider economy.
The Australian carbon trading scheme will be the most extensive outside Europe, and will see industrial polluters bid for government licences to emit carbon. 'Hard targets'
class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/">Nick Bryant's blog: Rudd's gamble It is expected that the permits will be sold for between A$23 and A$32 ($15 - $21) per tonne, with the price capped at A$40. The new measures announced by Mr Rudd will see:
The level of greenhouse gas cuts will be dependent on the outcome of the UN climate change talks a year from now. • Greenhouse gas emissions cut by between between 5% and 15% by 2020, from 2000 levels
If a binding deal on worldwide emissions cuts in the developed and developing world is not reached at Copenhagen in December 2009, then Australia will only set a 5% target. • A scheme to be implemented by 2010 requiring industrial polluters to bid for government licences to emit carbon. It will cover 75% of emissions and include 1,000 of the country's biggest firms, but will initially exclude Australia's drought-battered farmers.
"Without action on climate change, Australia faces a future of parched farms, bleached reefs and empty reservoirs," Mr Rudd told the National Press Club in Canberra, in a speech briefly interrupted by protesters.
"These are hard targets for Australia. If we don't act now, we will be hit hard and fast," said Climate Change Minister Penny Wong."These are hard targets for Australia. If we don't act now, we will be hit hard and fast," said Climate Change Minister Penny Wong.
But environmentalists have been pressing for a minimum emissions cut of 25%. It's a total and utter failure - it's madness John HepburnGreenpeace But Mr Rudd's critics say the new targets fall far short of the drastic cuts some environmentalists have warned are necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change.
The scheme will only aim for a 15% cut in emissions by 2020 if a global agreement on climate change is reached.
The new carbon trading scheme will see an initial cap on prices, but allow exemptions of up to 90% for major polluters who could be penalised by the added cost when facing untaxed competitors on the international market.
Other critics argue that Australia's targets appear modest when compared to the European Union's goal of 20% cuts on 1990 emissions levels by 2020 - though Mr Rudd counters that when population growth is taken into account, the per capita cuts are comparable with Europe.
On Saturday, a UN climate change conference wrapped up in the Polish city of Poznan, the halfway point in a two-year process aimed at reaching a deal in Copenhagen by the end of 2009.
That agreement is supposed to have two major elements - an expanded Kyoto Protocol-style deal committing industrialised countries to deeper emission cuts in the mid-term, perhaps by 2020, and a longer-term agreement encompassing all countries.
'Economy has won'
Mr Rudd has defended his government's scheme, calling it an approach which balances competing economic and environmental demands - he had faced calls from the business community to postpone the carbon trading scheme in light of the global economic downturn.
Nick Bryant's blog: Rudd's gamble His government says the new scheme will trim only 0.1% off annual growth in domestic national product from 2010 to 2050, with a one-off increase in inflation of about 1.1%.
"You could say that the decision came down to a choice between the environment and the economy," Gary Cox, head of environmental derivatives at global brokers Newedge, told Reuters news agency.
"And at this stage it looks like the economy has won."
Environmentalists - who had been pressing for a minimum emissions cut of 25% - were outraged.
Australian Greens spokeswoman Christine Milne said the government's policy was a "complete failure", and called the 5% minimum target a "global embarrassment".
"It's a total and utter failure. It's madness," said John Hepburn of Greenpeace."It's a total and utter failure. It's madness," said John Hepburn of Greenpeace.
"There were expectations it would be low but nobody thought it would be this low. Five percent, which is what we are looking at, is an outrage.""There were expectations it would be low but nobody thought it would be this low. Five percent, which is what we are looking at, is an outrage."
Australia, which has been suffering a series of droughts in recent years, is expected to be one of the countries' hardest hit by global warming. Australia, which has been suffering a series of droughts in recent years, is expected to be one of the countries hardest hit by global warming.