Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Milne, I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the Rudd Government’s current and promised overseas aid commitment fails to meet the agreed United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goal of 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI),

(ii)

under the Copenhagen Accord, the Rudd Government undertook to contribute to US$30 billion of ‘fast start’ financing for the period 2010 to 2012 and that this would be additional to existing aid funding,

(iii)

a fair contribution by Australia to the US$30 billion financing is estimated at AU$760 million,

(iv)

the climate aid related spending announced in the budget is not additional and is less than half of Australia’s fair contribution, and

(v)

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer noted that, by pledging money that is not new and additional, some industrialised countries are beginning to ‘climate-wash’ and that this is not conducive to rebuilding trust in the international climate negotiations; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

provide overseas development aid of 0.7 per cent of GNI,

(ii)

state precisely what it regards as a fair and equitable contribution to the US$30 billion ‘fast start’ financing for climate mitigation and adaptation,

(iii)

make the climate funding additional to the overseas aid budget, and

(iv)

state when and how this funding will be provided.