Media release - 9 July
2009 - Minister for Climate Change and Water,
Senator Penny Wong, today released a new
report which finds that climate
change is happening faster than earlier
thought and the risks are more serious.
Prepared by Professor
Will Steffen, Executive Director of the
ANU Climate Change Institute, 'Climate change
2009: Faster change and more serious risks'
draws on the science of climate change since
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's
2007 Fourth Assessment Report.
Key findings of the
report include:
The climate system appears
to be changing faster than earlier thought
likely.
The need for effective reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions is urgent, to avoid the risk
of crossing dangerous thresholds in the
climate system.
Once thresholds in ice sheet and carbon
cycle dynamics are crossed, such processes
cannot be stopped or reversed by human intervention.
Senator Wong said the recent Copenhagen
Synthesis report found climate change was
accelerating and emphasised that inaction
was inexcusable.
"This new report
reinforces the damaging effects climate
change will have in Australia," Senator
Wong said.
"Australia is already
experiencing the early impacts of climate
change and Professor Steffen's report highlights
the risks ahead. The new report focuses
on rapidly changing areas of science of
importance to Australia – such as the contribution
of melting ice to sea level rise, acidification
of the oceans, and changing water availability.
"As science advances,
we are learning that these risks are greater
than we had previously expected and most
of the uncertainties point to more rapid
and severe climate change."
Critical risks for Australia
include sea-level rise, possible severe
recurring droughts, the drying trends in
major parts of Australia, and the likely
increase in extreme weather events like
heatwaves, floods and bushfires.
"Climate change
is with us now, and unless we act now, it
will only get worse in the life of our children,"
Senator Wong said.
"In August, the
Senate has the opportunity to turn around
Australia's contribution to climate change
for the first time. The Senate can decide
whether it will help slow climate change
down, or whether it will help climate change
accelerate."
To download the report,
visit the Department of Climate Change website
at www.climatechange.gov.au
+ More
Strong results on government
water purchase
Media release - 24 July
2009 - In total to June 30 this year, the
Rudd Government has secured the purchase
of some 446 billion litres of water worth
$660 million as part of a water buyback
designed to put the Murray-Darling Basin
back on a sustainable footing.
Minister for Climate
Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, said
that in the 2008-09 year alone, the purchase
of more than 408 billion litres of water
worth over $613 million was secured.
The purchases were made
through tenders conducted under the Government's
Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling
Basin program.
"To help meet the
challenges posed by climate change, drought
and over-allocation, the Government is investing
$3.1 billion over 10 years in purchasing
water to return to the Basin's stressed
rivers and wetlands," Senator Wong
said.
"This is in addition
to a significant investment in making irrigation
infrastructure more efficient, including
$3.7 billion already committed to specific
state projects and $300 million to on-farm
infrastructure projects.
"The combination
of this infrastructure investment and our
water purchase program is playing a crucial
role in smoothing the transition for irrigation
communities as they adjust to the lower
diversion limits that we expect under the
new Basin Plan."
Currently under preparation
by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the
Basin Plan will be implemented from 2011
and will include a new, sustainable, scientifically-based
limit on water use in the Basin.
Senator Wong said the
Government was pleased to have received
such a strong positive response from willing
sellers of water entitlement to the buyback.
"As water becomes
available, water entitlement purchased by
the Government will help improve the health
of the Basin's rivers, wetlands and floodplains,"
Senator Wong said.
"Around 90 percent
of purchases were from catchments that scientists
have assessed as having high priority needs
for environmental water."
The Government's largest
purchase was 240 gigalitres of entitlement
from Twynam Agricultural Group.
Of the remaining purchases,
55 per cent of the irrigation entitlements
purchased through the 2008-09 tenders were
from Victoria compared with
44 per cent from irrigators in New South
Wales.
Senator Wong said the
Government welcomed the good progress in
its water purchase program, and remained
keen to see more action on irrigation infrastructure.
"The Rudd Government
committed $3.7 billion towards Basin state
priority irrigation projects over 12 months
ago," Senator Wong said.
"We look forward
to receiving the States' comprehensive proposals
as soon as possible."
A breakdown of key water
purchase facts is attached. Further information
on the outcomes of the 2008-09 water tender
is available at www.environment.gov.au/waterpurchasing
