Download our Public Policy Positions paper:

ARRCC believes that climate change is a profoundly moral issue: the earth is of intrinsic value and we have a duty to protect it. Furthermore, we have a responsibility to care for the ecosystems on which life depends, particularly for people in developing countries who are bearing the negative impacts of climate change earliest and hardest, future generations, and other species with which we share the Earth.

As individuals we can contribute by reducing and changing our consumption habits, in such a way that we focus on those aspects of life that really matter: relationships, a sense of purpose, and connectedness with the natural environment. However, to be effective, the a communal as well as individual response is required. Societal structures that promote unsustainable consumption need to be regulated. Economies need to be redirected away from the pursuit of unlimited economic “growth” and towards new understandings of prosperity.

To guide our work, we have developed a set of public policy positions that we believe are important to address climate change effectively. These positions were arrived at through extensive consultation with ARRCC members, local faith communities and a variety of religious leaders. The policies we advocate are informed by science and a moral commitment to the common good. They recognise that shifting to an ecologically sustainable society reflects a truthful recognition of the limits of our planet's finite resources. They show compassion for future generations, and towards other people with whom we share the Earth so they are equitably able to enjoy its fruitfulness, beauty and diversity.

Policies

The following is a summary of the policies we advocate. Our full position, including the basic principles on which our policies are based and the desired outcome of these policies are set out in our Public Policy Positions paper.

Mitigation

1. Market forces must be regulated
2. More fundamentally, we need to re-assess measures of prosperity 
3. We must stop building power stations which burn coal and other fossil fuels and instead create the capacity for energy generation from renewable sources as quickly as possible
4. Australia should rapidly phase out coal exports
5. Public investment should go into energy generation from renewable sources as a preference over Carbon Sequestration and Storage (CSS) or nuclear power
6. An Australia-wide substantial gross feed-in tariff system should be introduced
7. Australia should move to reduce agricultural-based emissions
   a) Australians should be encouraged to reduce their meat intake and shift towards more sustainable plant-based diets
   b) As a nation, we should set achievable time-bound targets for reducing emissions in the agricultural sector
   c) Livestock farmers should be given incentives to increasingly engage in carbon sequestration (as distinct from CSS relating to coal-fired power stations) and other environmental services
   d) Livestock farmers should be offered training and resources to create alternative forms of income generation on their land
8. Subsidies for high-polluting industries should be eliminated
9. A low carbon society will require a tax on carbon
10. The logging of old growth and intact forests in Australia should be ended immediately
11. Australia should legislate for stronger mandatory energy efficiency standards and provide incentives for the use of energy efficient products
12. In international negotiations, Australia should take a leadership role
13. Countries with carbon-intensive lifestyles, rather than those with large populations, bear greatest responsibility to reduce emissions

Adaptation

1. Australia should put new and substantial amounts of money on the table to finance developing country adaptation and mitigation
2. International financing should be additional to overseas aid
3. Allocations for funding should be administered through UN mechanism
4. Australia has special responsibilities to assist Island nations with adaptation, being situated in the Asia/Pacific region
5. Australia should welcome climate-displaced people from the Pacific region
6. Australia should advocate for the development of innovative financing mechanisms
7. Technology transfer would enable developing countries to leapfrog to cleaner and more efficient technologies
8. ARRCC supports calls for the cancellation of odious international debts
9. Biodiversity conservation is essential