Senate debates

Tuesday, 5 September 2006

Global Warming

3:45 pm

Photo of Christine MilneChristine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—
(a)
notes with alarm that:
(i)
the 0.6°C of global warming that has already occurred is impacting Australia with worsening droughts and changing seasons,
(ii)
the European Union (EU) has stated that once global temperature increase exceeds 2°C, adverse impacts on ecosystems, food production and water supply are projected to increase significantly, and an unexpected response of the climate becomes more likely, with irreversible catastrophic events like the melting of the Greenland ice sheet increasingly possible, and
(iii)
in 1996 the EU set a goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels; and
(b)
calls on the Government to identify what degree of warming it regards as constituting dangerous climate change and the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions necessary to avoid this.

Question put.