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Media Release - 14 December 2000Greenhouse post-COP 6: What now ?Australia's leading carbon sinks research facility, the CRC for Greenhouse Accounting is hosting a visit this month from distinguished scientist, Dr Robert T Watson, Chief Scientist to the World Bank and Chair of the IPCC or Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC is the key international scientific body at the centre of debate on climate change and Dr Watson is recognised as the world's most authoritative and influential expert on climate change. "This is a rare opportunity for Australians" Professor Noble, CEO of Greenhouse Accounting said today, "to hear about the current state of play on international climate change negotiations and the development of a global carbon commodity". Dr Watson will give several talks in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra that will address the recent, controversial climate change negotiations at The Hague as well as provoke discussion between local industry, land management agencies, government and conservation groups. In his role as IPCC Chair," Prof Noble continued, "Dr Watson coordinates and reviews climate research conducted by leading scientists worldwide. His expert research assists member nations of the UN in developing and formulating climate change policy." Dr Watson will speak on December 14 in Canberra; December 15 in Sydney and December 18 in Melbourne. At each forum, his address will be followed by a round-up on Australia's sinks position from Australian sinks specialist, Ian Noble. Professor Noble attended COP6 at The Hague as independent technical adviser to the Australian Government and he is providing input in Australia's negotiations into the resumption of complex Kyoto Protocol talks in Bonn in May next year. Dr Watson will also be accompanied at the Melbourne forum by speakers from Arthur Andersen Legal on emissions trading, The Australian Industry Greenhouse Network on implications for industry, The Australian Conservation Foundation on the environment and The Australian Greenhouse Office on the government perspective of the international negotiations. Since COP6, further international climate negotiations in Ottawa, Canada have failed to bridge differences on the sinks issue, and the Canadian Environment Minister recently commented that a follow-up meeting in Norway was "unlikely". The Canadian meeting had been called to revive stalled climate negotiations held at The Hague. The meeting explored areas of common ground between the EU and the rest of the OECD countries, in preparation for a ministerial-level meeting tentatively scheduled this week in Oslo. The current US Administration was reported to have asked Norway to host Ministerial Consultations in the week before Christmas. Any agreement resulting from the consultations would be conditional on approval from all countries at the formal resumption of COP6 in May 2001.Participating countries were: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. The Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the resumed thirteenth sessions of the UNFCCC's subsidiary bodies were held in The Hague, the Netherlands, from 13-25 November 2000. The meeting was intended to bring to a close more than two years of preparations and negotiations set out in the UNFCCC's 1998 Buenos Aires Plan of Action. The Greenhouse Accounting CRC was established in 1999 as the scientific leader in land-based carbon sinks under the flagship R&D CRC Program administered by AusIndustry. Greenhouse Accounting CRC industry partners include Shell of Australia, Alcoa, Stanwell Corporation and Saltbush. Joint venture partners in the Greenhouse CRC include the Australian National University, NSW State Forests and NSW Land and Water Conservation, The Australian Greenhouse Office, CSIRO, Queensland Departments of Natural Resources and Primary Industries and CALM WA. If sinks projects are implemented within a framework of sustainable development, major benefits will flow to Australia’s economy and environment. Sinks may provide additional money for revegetation projects and establishment of new commercial forest plantations, potentially creating a revenue stream for agriculture and other land holders to conserve existing native vegetation or revegetate their land. If properly managed, environmental benefits include increased soil organic matter, protection and enhancement of biodiversity and remnant vegetation, reduced risk of salinity, production of biofuels to replace fossil fuels and an increase in wood production from plantations. Sinks provide attractive benefits, including visible demonstration of an enterprise's commitment to the environment; a low cost per tonne of CO2 sequestration and the potential for on-going greenhouse gas credits. Ultimately, sinks have a finite carbon storage capacity which means they are not the solution to global warming. However, over the next few decades sinks can make an important contribution to mitigating greenhouse gas accumulation. Sinks have the potential to buy time for Australia to make the transition from its current dependence on fossil fuels to a wider mix of more 'greenhouse and land use' friendly energy technologies. They do not represent a long-term solution to climate change. Telephone or face-to-face interviews may be arranged on request with the following speakers:
Interviews are also possible at the following forums:
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