ARRCC wrote to the Minister for Climate Change regarding Australia's current weak emissions targets.

The UNFCC has set February 28th as the deadline for submissions from participating countries, regarding increasing ambition for reducing emissions. ARRCC would like to see Australia make much more ambitious pledges than the 5-15% reductions below 2000 levels by 2020, with a potential shift to 25% if other countries commit to higher levels - which we made after signing the Copenhagen Accord. The fact that the commitments of most other countries are much higher gives all the more reason for Australia to now commit to much more ambitious pledges.

The following is the text of our letter.

Monday, 6 February 2012

The Hon Mr Greg Combet MP
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Minister

Re: Australia's submission of mitigation targets to the UN

ARRCC is a multi-faith, member-based organisation of religious people from around Australia who are committed to acting on climate change. We would like to take this opportunity to urge the Australian Government to formally commit a much higher emissions reduction target to the United Nations than the current target. While we know there is not yet a binding international agreement as such, other nations are clearly orienting themselves to more ambitious targets than has our nation so far.

We argue that Australia should commit to a reduction of 40% (or more) below 1990 levels. We believe this target reflects a truthful recognition of the limits of our planet, for the following compelling reasons.

Principally, the IPCC estimates that industrialised countries need to reduce their emissions by 25 – 40% on 1990 levels by 2020, if the world is to keep global warming less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels¹. ARRCC accepts the science behind this but recognises that even a two degree Celsius increase would mean massive losses for the world's poor and so we therefore advocate for a 40% reduction by industrialised countries, or greater.

After signing the Copenhagen Accord, Australia offered an emission reduction target of 5 – 15% below 2000 levels by 2020, with a potential shift to 25% if other countries commit to higher levels. The fact that the commitments of most other countries are indeed much higher² gives all the more reason for Australia to now commit to emissions reduction targets of at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.

The average minimum emission reduction target on 2000 levels committed to by advanced economies is around 20% by 2020. Japan's and New Zealand's minimum targets are around a 30% cut on 2000 levels and Norway's is a 35% reduction³. These are much higher than Australia's targets, yet even these are insufficient to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius.

ARRCC believes Australia has a responsibility to do much more than most other countries because (a) our per capita emissions are the highest among OECD nations⁴, (b) our efforts at mitigation are lagging behind many other countries, and (c) we have both the technological and economic capacity to make significant emissions reductions possible⁵ - all that is required is the political will. Embracing our international responsibilities would have added economic benefits, through the strengthening of sustainable technology sectors of the economy and the creation of new employment opportunities.

Internationally, we have a lot to gain by submitting much higher targets for emissions reductions:

• It would add to the international momentum towards the greater ambition necessary for a safer, more stable climate for Australia and other vulnerable countries in the future. In part, it is in our national long-term interest.
     
• It would help place Australia in a better position to work in international forums to pressure the major emitters to increase their reduction targets.
     
• Adopting a more ambitious target will strengthen our alliances with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), many of which are in the Pacific, and add authenticity to our claim to regional leadership.
     
• It would strengthen bilateral relations with China, our major trading partner. China's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are only one-fourth of per capita emissions in the US, and 700 million of China's people still live in rural villages away from the prosperous cities. At the same time, they lead the world in investment in clean energy; and have committed to a 40 – 45% emission intensity reduction target below 2005 levels⁶. Australia's insufficient commitments to reduce fossil fuel emissions mean we are not doing our "fair share" internationally, and we are undoubtedly perceived as such by China.

ARRCC understands that the Government may regard a 40% emissions reduction target as unrealistic, and yet it is what is needed. The ecological limits of the Earth are not negotiable, and we treat responsible action in relation to these limits as "unrealistic" at our own peril.

We ask you to respond to us confirming the targets that the Government is submitting, so that we can communicate the Government's position back to the members of our organisation and to our broader network. We hope and pray that as leaders of our country, you will act in a way that embraces a more sustainable future for all.

Yours sincerely,

Thea Ormerod, President
Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC)

Notes:

1. IPCC's 2007 Fourth Assessment Report Working Group III Report, p. 776
2. Copenhagen Accord: Appendix I - Quantified economy-wide emissions targets for 2020, www.unfccc.int 
3. The Durban Climate Summit, The Climate Institute, Sydney, December, 2011. P. 8
4. Greenhouse gas emissions data from UNFCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data for the Period 1990-2007, www.unfcc.int. Population data from Population Reference Bureau 2008, 2007 World Population Data Sheet, www.prb.org, and Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, http://esa.un.org/unpp.
5. Australia has the lowest government debt to GDP ratio of any OECD country, OECD Economic Outlook Nov. 2009.
6. Is China being used as a scapegoat by countries which are unwilling to make significant cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions? Monograph by Fr Sean McDonagh SSC, 2011.