Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Action Overseas

If you listen long enough to some Australian political figures, you might end up believing that Australia (after taking 10 years to ratify the Kyoto protocol) is leading the fight against climate change - and that other countries need to catch up. Well, perhaps we should listen less and read more.

Today I read that (while we think about 5 or 10% reductions) other countries are taking real action. For example:
- Germany is looking at 40% reduction by 2020
- Costa Rica aims to be carbon neutral by 2030
- Sweden has said it will wean itself off oil by 2020
- Norway is cutting emissions by 30% by 2020 and aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050

I think if we remember this the next time we hear a politician talk about the costs of Australia "going it alone" we might have a little chuckle to ourselves.

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