Rising Tide Australia

Alert: July 2008: We have eighteen months left before the last chance to cut greenhouse gas pollution

What are you talking about?

The Kyoto protocol "first commitment period" for greenhouse gas emissions reductions finishes in 2012. International commitments to greenhouse pollution cuts beyond that time are to be finalised and agreed to at the UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen in December next year. The nations of the world will not make dramatic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions unless “everybody else does” --- Copenhagen ’09 will be the “everybody else.”

Scientists have stated that emissions need to start falling by 2015 if we are to have any chance of averting runaway climate change -- where higher temperatures begin to kill the forests, wetlands and woodlands of the world and as they die, they emit massive more quantities of carbon dioxide the atmosphere and we enter a feedback loop of emissions that are not longer within our control. At the moment, most carbon emissions are in our control.

To achieve this, in the three years subsequent to December 2009, we need to decommission power stations, massively scale back cattle production and fertilisation of crops, build solar thermal and wind generation facilities, and more. If we don’t start decommissioning power stations and making other structural changes in that time, we will precipitate runaway climate change. The forests of the earth will begin emitting carbon as they dry out and die, or burn to the ground, and once that occurs, nothing we do will stop climate change spiralling out of control.

So what's happening?

After the success of the Camp for Climate Action, nonviolent direct action is spreading throughout the climate movement. 

The week of the 21st  September has been declared a National week of action, with rallies planned for Newcastle (28th) and Sydney (2nd Oct) 

The inaugural NSW grassroots climate summit will be held on 4th and 5th October in Sydney -- for more info contact george [at] hcec.org.au

The Walk Against Warming is on again on 15th November -- for details go to nccnsw.org.au

The following week will see a major protest vigil will be held outside the Eraring Power Station, south of Newcastle .

That will bring us to the first week of December, and the international climate talks at Poznan, in Poland. The Government's White Paper for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is also due to be released in DEcember as is their Exposure Draft legislation and the announcement of medium term targets. Contact Rising Tide if you are keen to be involved in  actions around the country when this occurs.

Lot's of other campaign work, events, protests, networking and advocacy will tie in with the Now or Never campaign.

Get in touch with Rising Tide for more details.