10 October 2007The Sydney Morning Herald
An Australian delegation to low-lying Pacific island nations has called on the federal government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change after the coalition said it might sign an amended agreement.
Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Fairfax the Australian Government might ratify an amended Kyoto Protocol which would open the way for the government to press developed countries, such as the United States, to accept binding greenhouse gas emission targets.
The federal government's apparent shift in policy direction comes as delegates prepare to attend the United Nations Climate Change summit in Bali in December.
Delegates from the Edmund Rice Catholic social justice organisation arrived back in Sydney after a study trip to the equatorial Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, where they met with country's president Anote Tong.
Trip coordinator Sister Geraldine Kearney said Mr Tong was deeply worried about erosion and the movement of water levels and sand in his island atoll nation.
Some sections of land have been eroded by three to four metres in recent years, leading to grim predictions that the nation's 110,000 inhabitants will be forced to relocate over the next twenty years, Sr Kearney said.
"The Kiribati people feel the changes are coming but there is a confusion as to why," Sr Kearney told AAP.
"This time, going around to places that I knew from two years ago, I saw roads closed and shorelines had receded quite dramatically."
Sr Kearney said the study group was applying for funds to bring representatives of low-lying island communities to the UN summit.
"This is a global issue and we should be in solidarity with all the nations that are realising that we're part of this and I think that we should sign the Kyoto protocol and pull together," she said.
Kiribati study trip delegate Dr Maryanne Loughry said low-lying island nations such Kiribati were already feeling the effects of climate change while their larger neighbours such as Australia refused to adequately cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"Kiribati is committed to making changes, but they see the big developed countries where the effort needs to be made," she said.
"The victims of the emissions, they are contributing less than 0.6 per cent in emissions."
Kiribati President Anote Tong called for a partnership between the Kiribati people and its Pacific neighbours.
"Sometimes I get really disheartened - who is really listening," he said in a statement.
