Page 3788 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 29 October 2014
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shared responsibility and requires cooperation and action by everyone in our community, including governments, business, community groups, households and individuals. We must all understand that while the impact of our individual choices may be small, together we can make a difference to enhance the future wellbeing of our people and our environment.
Even if the federal Liberal government takes us backwards on climate change and environmental policy, this government is committed to responsible and far-sighted action, informed by science, that will transition the ACT towards a carbon-neutral territory that can adapt to a changing climate. Ours is a leadership role, not because we are doing more than we should but because we are one of the few who are doing what we must. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Capital Metro) (4.28): I thank Ms Berry for bringing this motion to the Assembly today. Today I would like to outline the very significant benefits that renewable energy presents to our community and to add my voice to a call to the federal government to follow this government’s example and support a strong and robust renewable energy target.
The government takes seriously the risk posed to Canberra by climate change but also recognises the very significant benefits offered by early action on climate change, particularly by the harnessing of our nation’s vast renewable energy resources. We truly are an energy superpower when it comes to wind, solar and wave energy capability, and we should be harnessing these resources for the benefit and the prosperity of our nation and our environment.
Despite global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the underlying cause of global warming, there will be unavoidable changes in the planet’s climate during our lifetime. Indeed, these changes are already increasingly notable. Climate projections for the ACT region indicate warmer and drier conditions, with the increased frequency of and potential for natural disasters, including drought and bushfire, and severity of extreme weather events such as wild storms, flash flooding and prolonged heat waves increasing. Incrementally we know there will be changes not just to the weather but what we see around us: our local plants and animals, how much water we have, what types of crops we can grow.
The most recent IPCC report released in March this year stated that climate change poses a global threat to security, food and the future wellbeing of humankind. The IPCC indicated that it is past the time for governments and the public to work to not just cut greenhouse gas emissions but also to plan for infrastructure that will offer protection from a significantly changed climate. The message is clear that both mitigation and adaptation responses are now necessary.The final report of the commonwealth’s renewable energy target review was released on 28 August this year. The report is unsupportive of the RET in its current form and terms it unsustainable. This report is, of course, more commonly known as the Warburton report. Modelling done for the commonwealth’s review of the RET showed that, if left unaltered, the target would reach 26.3 per cent of national
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