Media Releases
Thursday, 3rd March 2005
The prediction the world's population "will rise by 40%" within the next 50 years is a threat to the health of our planet and underscores why we need the Kyoto Protocol to work.
On top of the 600% population increase of the past 200 years, the United Nation's Population Division expects the world's population to rapidly rise from 6.5 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050, with almost all of this growth occurring in developing countries.
The most significant challenge confronting governments in industrialised countries is to protect the planet's environment and biodiversity while maintaining the living standards we take for granted. This task simply gets harder with an ever growing global population.
To appreciate the magnitude of this challenge, you only need consider the 2 billion people who still do not have access to reliable power supply.
Connecting these people to conventional sources of electricity (i.e. power plants using fossil fuels such as coal) would lead to a catastrophic increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and would substantially increase the likelihood of abrupt climate change.
To help overcome this challenge, the Kyoto Protocol includes the "Clean Development Mechanism" which allows an industrialised country to partly meet its binding target under the Protocol by paying for projects that cut or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. Already 30 such projects are at the advanced planning stage.
The Kyoto Protocol is not perfect. But in the interests of our children and grandchildren all industrialised countries must commit to making the Protocol work.
We cannot escape the fact that the world's current population level is already having an alarming impact on the health of our planet:
It's time for Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and be part of the global response to climate change and global population growth.
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Electorate Office
334a Marrickville Rd
Marrickville NSW 2204
Phone: 02 9564 3588
Parliament House Office
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Phone: 02 6277 7700
Phone: (02) 9564 3588
Fax: (02) 9564 1734
Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Authorised by Anthony Albanese. 334a Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204.