Letter
LULUCF and the Emperor’s new clothes
Emma Lovell and Jessica Allen show how Australia is hiding behind the notorious “Australia clause” in the 2005 Kyoto Protocol to claim substantial reductions in our carbon emissions with only little actual reduction from our major emitting industries.
The Australia clause, which allows Australia to benefit from the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Sector (LULUCF) factor, was widely criticised when Australia insisted upon it. In targetting emissions reductions in comparison to those from exceptionally high-emission years, the Howard Government set an absurdly low target for actual emissions reduction. This may be well and good in terms of reporting our “climate accounts” to the UN, but it carries little weight against the reality of actual global warming.
As Lovell and Allen show, we have, over subsequent years, made only 3% reduction in emissions we generate excluding LULUCF. Our reported emission reductions look like the Emperor’s new clothes – existing only in the minds of the credulous. The Emperor’s risk from his self-delusion was to be ultimately seen as naked. Australia’s risk is to find ourselves and our descendants trying to survive on a planet inhospitable to life. We must target real zero emissions, not net zero, to thrive.
— Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic