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Download The Honorable Peter Batchelor - Victorian Council of Social Service
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1 COMMUNITIES IN A CHANGING CLIMATE Wednesday, 25th February 2009 The Honourable Peter Batchelor Minister for Energy, Resources and Community Development Ms Cath Smith CEO, Victorian Council of Social Service Professor John Wiseman Director, The McCaughey Centre, University of Melbourne Ms Anne Turley CEO, Melbourne City Mission Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we stand, the Kulin Nations, and pay my respect to their elders past and present. Thank you for the opportunity to open this forum, which aims to promote debate and discussion regarding the challenges that community life. climate change presents for our 2 Climate change and the effects it causes do not have boundaries which limit the sequelae to a local or national community but spread throughout the world. This fact must be recognised as we search for solutions that can reverse the factors causing the change in our climate and also how we mitigate the effects of the associated global warming. I want to start my talk with words that I often use and repeat them in case there are sceptics but also to emphasize that many of the principles that drive our actions can be considered beneficial to our planet and long term sustainability. However, some actions that are proposed may have adverse effects on some sectors of our community and also global communities. Surprisingly, as I set a scene globally for you about the next 40 years, initially, I will not mention the words global warming or climate change. Here’s a few thoughts: All of us seek better health and longer life and medical science is enabling this to happen. The population of the world is predicted to rise from 6 billion today to 9 billion by 2050. Pollution from transport, powerhouses and industry today kills a million people annually and is responsible for the ill health of millions more 3 Daily we read about environmental degradation of water supplies and the land in many countries and also of emerging global food shortages. We have already passed the peak of oil availability and need to conserve oil as a fuel for functions where there is no other alternative The developing nations such as India, China and Indonesia require a 5 fold increase in energy expenditure per head of population for each of their citizens to reach a standard of living comparable to ours. If we are idealistic and wish to engage with the developing nations to develop global agreements in Copenhagen at the end of this year, we will get nowhere fast unless we accept the notion of global equity. Global equity to me means that by 2050, all the people in the world should have been given the opportunity to reach the same level of life style as in developed countries. If that were to occur, my conclusion is that we will leave a very degraded planet unless we each develop a more sustainable lifestyle, using energy from renewable sources so that our environmental footprint is much smaller. Yet global equity needs to drive our long term thinking. We often hear people in our society making a comment that 4 we must not start first to set up a carbon trading scheme until the large polluters join the actions. We, in the developed countries, need to remember that we put into the atmosphere a large amount of the carbon dioxide that is causing the rise in temperature and that every molecule of this gas that we add stays there for about 100 years. The second point we need to remember is that a large proportion of the emissions from countries such as China, India and Indonesia comes from our desire for goods that they manufacture and sell to us. In effect, we have moved our factories to their land to take the benefit of the low cost of their labour. We even send our iron ore and coal to them, from which we profit, so that they need to produce the energy to smelt and manufacture goods that are returned to us. The third point, made quietly to me by the High Commissioner from India, is that the emissions actually resulting from the personal actions of the bulk of their billion people can be consider as “survival” emissions rather than ours which can be considered “lifestyle” emissions. Think carefully about these concepts during your discussions today. 5 While still considering the global issues, I want to raise a couple of other points to highlight the international dimensions of climate change. The first of these deals with the consequences of rising sea levels. This has several dimensions. There is the issue of climate change refugees such as the people of Tuvalu, the first nation to encounter a progressively uninhabitable “country” due to rising sea levels. These are the vanguard of larger numbers in the future, perhaps in the nearer future than the distant future, given the rate of melt of such entities as the Arctic ice. The second deals with the dimensions of this progression. Let me remind you that the Stern report outlined the effects of a rise of one metre in sea level. He reported that more than 200 million people live on coastal flood plains around the world with 2 million square kilometres of land and $1 trillion worth of assets less than 1 metre above current sea levels. Many of the world’s major cities risk flooding from coastal surges including Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Calcutta, Karachi, Buenos Aires, St Petersburg, New York, London and Miami. If one sets aside cities, the flooding of the Ganges delta of Bangladesh, apart from devastation and displaced populations, will remove a very fertile region from food 6 production creating significant starvation to an ever increasing population. The second issue also impacts on agriculture and food production and highlights the importance of careful thought before action. President Bush’s support for the use of corn to produce biofuel diesel has led to a huge increase in the price of corn, the staple food in many countries. In a similar manner, the need to produce palm oil for biofuel production has led to the decimation of forests and the loss of a valuable carbon sink together with the removal of arable land from food production. Added to this is the loss of biodiversity as tropical rainforests are destroyed and species such as the orangutan are threatened. Let me now focus for the remainder of my time on the Australian community. I have been asked today to consider and discuss the moral and ethical implications of climate change for the Victorian community. I believe strongly that we have a moral duty to ensure that the environment and our planet is left habitable for future generations. I believe we have a responsibility to use the knowledge that we now have to change the way we think, the way we behave, and the way our society operates. 7 Scientific advancements mean that we have power and knowledge at our disposal that past generations didn’t. Ignoring this knowledge, and not using this power to improve our environmental impact, is irresponsible. If we do not act, the consequences of our inaction will be felt for many years to come. As a community, we need to be clear about the value we place on managing climate change. The downturn of the global economy is currently at the forefront of everyone’s mind. It is consuming the majority of air time on news services; newspapers are devoting pages and pages to reporting constant updates. However, as a community, we need to ask ourselves, is a transitory downturn in the global economy more or less important than managing climate change? There are cries to stimulate growth and spending. Is this a sensible response when we have a planet with finite resources that is struggling to cope? In reviewing past history, each economic downturn has had a finite duration, albeit with a clear recognition of the hardships. In effect, these downturns challenge the value systems on which economics is based. Consequently, in trying to determine whether a transitory downturn in the global economy is more or less important than managing climate change, we all need to place a value on the latter. What is the value we place on having an inhabitable planet 8 in the future? What is the value we place on the diversity of the flora and fauna of this planet? What is the value we place on the barrier reef, the alpine environments, the oceans and the marine life that are dependent on the availability of krill as a food source? What is really important to us? If economic stimulation is required, how should we spend our money? Should it prop up rampant consumerism that takes no note of the reality that we live on a planet with finite resources? Or should it be spent on building a sustainable lifestyle that emphasizes the values of a society that cares for this planet, that cares for and values its biodiversity, that creates a framework where citizens respect each other, where children and adolescents are nurtured, mentored and cared for and in return who respect the older generations for their wisdom and contributions? Which is more important, a reversible economic downturn or a progressive warming of the global environment resulting in irretrievable losses of the biodiversity of this planet and which threatens the survival of many human beings? I will leave you to contemplate the answers. Having determined in your own mind what value you, as an individual, places on managing and preventing climate change, you need to determine what you can do at a personal level. How can you change your lifestyle to leave 9 a smaller environmental footprint? There are countless actions and you will only be limited by your imagination and your budget. What might be some examples happening across Australia? Increased use of public transport and bicycles and walking for short journeys. Walking kids to school, the walking bus and less use of cars for short journeys. Increasing the set point on air conditioners and wearing more clothes to keep warm. Did you know that Melbourne has one of the purest water supplies in the world yet we have a vast use of bottled water? It takes 200ml of oil to make the bottle and get it to you to drink. Is this a sensible and sustainable use of oil, a finite resource? Do take a close look at all you do. Reducing power usage by turning off lights not in use, turning off appliances that remain on standby and using more energy efficient appliances. In your business or at work, you could save power and emissions by turning off non-essential lighting. For instance, each night, the view from Government 10 House shows countless burning lights in city buildings in unoccupied rooms. We could save large sums of money if these lights were turned off and considerable energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions would result. reduced What’s more, measures such as this, implemented across the community, could even delay the need for additional power stations for a period of time until cleaner technologies became available. Planting trees, as they are a wonderful way of improving the environment and also assisting in converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. Then one gets into the area of spending money such as replacing light globes that reduce power usage, improving insulation in your roof and walls and water tanks. Or more expensive matters such as solar hot water and solar panels to generate electricity. Here issues of equity arise in that some in our community may not be able to pay for such changes. How do assist them? Clearly, one option is a subsidy from Government from funds derived from a carbon tax or from an emissions trading scheme. What can we do as a community and as a nation? Here’s just a few. 11 Better housing design to minimise energy expenditure; do we need such large houses when the average family size has declined? Do we need personal tennis courts with lights? What happened to our sense of community? Initiatives for use of solar, wind and tidal generation of power, even the nasty word nuclear should be considered, perhaps for countries that already have a nuclear industry and limited sunlight Water saving, water recycling, desalination require consideration as the rain tap seems to be remaining off in the South-East of Australia Hybrid cars, electric cars, better public transport Here again one needs to consider how the costs of these technologies can be fairly borne across our community in Australia. Should we increase taxation to subsidise lower income groups? Should there be a tax on those driving larger cars? I could go on adding to the list. In essence what this calls for is a move to reduce our environmental footprint to minimise our generation of greenhouse gas emissions by educating the public to recognise the issues and to take action. 12 How do we achieve this behavioural change? We have witnessed in the last two weeks the devastating cumulative effect that years of drought coupled with the warmest temperatures experienced in this State in 100 years have had on many Victorian communities, and on the State as a whole. A huge death toll resulted now in excess of 210 from the direct effects of fire. There is a hidden death toll from the extraordinary temperatures which are estimated to have caused a further 200 deaths, usually in the older population, an issue that Dr Blaski will deal. These tended to be older people, again a high risk group at such times. Mitigation strategies need to keep these groups in mind. Our changing climate is now, and will in the future, affect us in such devastating ways more often. Clear communication and consistent messages are critical and here, coordinated planning and action of across different sectors of our economy and life style is required for maximum effectiveness. Community education is critical to enable the stage to be set for government action to legislate to change people’s life-style, otherwise, with short electoral time-frames; governments are reluctant to enact unpopular legislation. 13 Unlike war-time approaches where people have tangible evidence of life-threatening issues, climate change is insidious and slow to demonstrate its effects. We have, therefore, been shown to take up the challenge. How do we get this information out to the public? Websites. Advertising. School education as children can also influence their parents. Local government through newsletters and forums. Community organisations, such as Rotary, Lions, Country Fire Authority, Landcare, environmental groups. Committed and educated business men and women could stimulate their employees to take action as a company and also as individuals. For instance, companies such as Toyota, whose factory I visited recently, have implemented policies that are making a difference over and above the introduction of hybrid vehicles. In Government House, my emphasis on this issue has reduced our energy usage by 20%. 14 A personal commitment to undertake a more sustainable lifestyle can start to make a difference within the family, in the workplace and local community and the ripples of these actions can make a difference. I believe that tackling climate change is something that is in the power of every Victorian, and it is important to lead by example, to drive real change in our community. I welcome all dialogue on this very significant issue. It now gives me great pleasure to formally open the “Communities in a Changing Climate” forum, for the Victorian Council of Social Service. Thank you. Professor David de Kretser, AC Governor of Victoria