Australia must stop blocking global climate plan after science congress updates world the sad truth

“The fact that this extraordinary meeting is even happening shows the depth of scientific concern about the prospects for our future. Urgent action must be taken now to avoid the worst consequences of climate change,” Greenpeace's head of campaigns Steve Campbell said.
 
“Scientists are doing their best to convey the urgency of the climate crisis, it’s time for governments to finally show political leadership and agree a rescue plan for the planet.”
 
Australia must stop actively blocking progress towards an international deal on climate change which will culminate in the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December where the global agreement must be signed off.
 
Scientists at the conference have warned that continued high rates of greenhouse gas emissions means the worst-case scenarios (or worse) identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are becoming a reality. This means, for example, that sea level rise is now expected to be more than a metre higher than previous predictions.
 
They have also warned that the loss of forest cover in some areas, such as the Amazon, may be irreversible, and some ecosystems have already been irreparably damaged. Greenhouse gas emissions must now be cut drastically to prevent catastrophe. This means achieving far greater cuts by 2020 than previously predicted.
 
"This means that even more than before, Australia's 5 per cent 2020 target is woefully inadequate," Mr Campbell said. "Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has a lot to prove to the international community if he does not want to be branded a climate sceptic."  
 
“This congress has spelt out the urgent dangers that confront us if we fail to take decisive action, but, it has also shown that it is economically and technically possible to step back from the brink, if world
leaders act now.
 
"We already have many tools and approaches to deal with the challenge.”
 
Greenpeace believes that climate chaos can be prevented, but warns that it requires nothing less than an ambitious and urgent emergency plan for the planet and our future.
 
At the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December, governments must commit to:
 
-Global greenhouse gas emissions peaking by 2015 and then declining rapidly, so as to reach as close to zero as possible by mid-century
 
-Legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction obligations for industrialised countries of at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. At least three quarters of these cuts need to be met through domestic action.
 
Additionally industrialised countries must pay at least US$140 billion annually to support mitigation efforts in developing countries.
 
-Enhanced action by developing countries such as renewable energy targets to reduce emissions by 15-30 per cent  compared to “business as usual” growth scenarios by 2020, in return for the binding financial commitments from industrialised countries.
 
-A funding mechanism to end deforestation and associated greenhouse gas emissions in all developing countries by 2020, and to achieve zero deforestation by 2015 in the Amazon, the Congo Basin, and the Paradise forests.