Speech on Earth Hour 2009
by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
26 March 2009
The Australian Government is pleased to participate in Earth Hour 2009. Earth Hour is a great home-grown Australian initiative. It began just two years ago. But its already a worldwide movement–with more than a thousand cities participating in 2009.
Its message is simply this. Climate change is a challenge for all of us. And we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel, to tackle this immense challenge. That message is absolutely vital this year, as the nations of the world work together ahead of the Copenhagen Summit laster this year.
It’s crucial that we reach a deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. This is not only an environmental challenge – it’s also a massive economic challenge, a political challenge and one of the greatest moral challenges of our age.
Every country must play its part – developed countries must take the lead, but developing countries must be a part of the solution. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, we have all been on a carbon-heavy path of economic development. That must change.
We must transition to the low-carbon path. We must be able to grow our economies, while reducing carbon pollution. That will require international cooperation on a level weve never seen before – to reduce emissions, to share technologies, and to support those nations who can’t make this transition by themselves.
Australia is making its contribution internationally, and at home. We’ve committed to reduce our emissions by between 5 and 15 per cent by 2020 compared to 2000 levels. That’s a reduction of between 34 and 41 per cent per head of population. And by 2050, emissions will be down by 60 per cent.
In recent days the Government has released the draft legislation for a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, to achieve these targets. That scheme will for the first time put a cost on carbon pollution and create the incentives to reduce emissions, starting from next year.
We’ve also committed to generating 20 percent of our electricity supply from renewable sources by 2020. That means our entire household electricity needs will come from renewable sources.
Early this year the Government announced a $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan to help support jobs and growth in the face of the worst global economic recession since the 1930s. A core part of this Plan is the largest investment in energy efficiency in the nation’s history – which will pay for insulation or solar hot water for 2.2 million Australian homes.
The Australian Government is taking action globally, and at home. And all Australians can show their commitment to action on climate change as well – by participating in Earth Hour 2009.
Thank you
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