TAKE ACTION: Ask PM Rudd to break his silence on climate finance

I am sure that you are familiar with the saying “another day another dollar.” Well, when it comes to international climate talks, it is only ever seems to be another day…

TAKE ACTION NOW

One of the biggest barriers in the run-up to Copenhagen is how much financial support developed nations should give poorer nations to combat the problem of climate change. There’s little convergence amongst nations on how much money’s needed to address climate change, where it comes from, and who gets it. Sure - these are loaded questions, but it’s essential that we get some movement on them – and fast – as time is simply not on our side.

Climate change is already here. Drought, flooding, storm damage, tidal surges and coastal erosion are damaging fisheries, crops and water supplies. Developing countries who have historically contributed least to climate change are the ones being hardest hit by its impacts.

That’s why developed nations, such as Australia, who have contributed the most to the current climate crisis, have a responsibility to assist poor countries both to adapt their emerging economies and to assist them deal with the climate impacts.

This kind of commitment in captured both in the Kyoto Protocol as well as the Bali Action Plan – to international documents which guide the current round of talks. Yet world leaders (including our Prime Minister) still made little progress on the issue of climate finance at last week’s G20 and UN Climate Summit.

Unlike the UK and the EU, the Australian government has yet to make any significant public announcement on climate finance. While Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong both agree that there is “a close relationship between progress on finance and a global deal on climate change”, the Australian government is yet to formally put a proposal, or an amount, on the table.

British PM Gordon Brown and the European Union state that $AUD100bn and $AUD165bn, respectively, would be needed annually by poor nations by 2020 to tackle climate change.

This may seem like a lot of money, but not when you compare it to the $4 trillion spent by developed countries on the financial crisis so far, or the $1.3 trillion of annual global military spending.

Right now, climate finance is a particularly sticky point in UN climate negotiations. Unless there’s action, the talks are likely to remain in gridlock.

Developing countries have spoken: it’s unfair for rich countries to expect them to agree to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, until developed countries commit to provide significant financial investment to help them.

The Australian negotiating team here in Bangkok are not able to move on climate finance until the Australian government come out and formally announce their position.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd could play an important role to help boost much needed trust and kick start these stalled negotiations. If he’s to do this however, he must make an announcement on climate finance.

Many commentators on the international climate negotiations say that this type of tangible action has the potential to move the climate negotiations forward. Is it really too much to ask Rudd to put his money where his mouth is?

With just 69 days to go to Copenhagen, the clock is ticking…

TAKE ACTION NOW

We want to send a strong message to Prime Minister Rudd from the Adopt-A-Negotiator project, we want to let him know that thousands of Australians are watching the international negotiations and urging the Australian government to play a leadership role. You can play an essential role by adding your voice to our letter to the Prime Minister asking him to break his silence on finance. I will play my role by ensuring that he gets the letters.