Australian High Commission
Papua New Guinea

Speech 080502 Media Council Climate Change

Media Council Climate Change Workshop

2 May 2008, Hideaway Hotel, Port Moresby, PNG

Australian Deputy High Commissioner to PNG, Ms Ann Harrap

 

Ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you to the Media Council for inviting me to speak to you all today on what’s a topic of vital and growing importance to both our countries.

Australia and Papua New Guinea in many ways are natural partners when it comes to the issue of climate change.

We are both high per capita carbon emitters (though our main source of emissions come from different sources – coal-fired power stations in the case of Australia, and deforestation in the case of PNG), but – by the same token - we have both demonstrated a commitment to tackling the problem of climate change on the world stage. PNG has done so through its leadership role in the Coalition for Rain forest Nations, and Australia has increasingly played a role in the climate change debate following our signing of the Kyoto Protocol late last year.

The Australian Prime Minister has said that there is no greater challenge now facing our world than dangerous climate change. We know in Australia that the impacts will hit us hard – particularly because of our increasing water scarcity, finely balanced natural environment and our large resources and energy sector. The long term costs of failing to act on climate change will greatly outweigh any short-term pain.

That’s why we are very keen to work with our partners in the Pacific region and to act decisively now. During his visit to PNG in March this year, Mr Rudd discussed the issue of climate change in some depth with Sir Michael Somare. This followed earlier discussions between the two leaders at the climate change conference in Bali at the end of last year. At the time Mr Rudd noted that climate change and deforestation were issues that offered scope for greater cooperation between our two countries.

He followed up with action during his March visit and he and Prime Minister Somare signed the ‘PNG-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership’.

By signing the partnership, Australia and PNG showed that they recognised the importance of reducing emissions from rain forest clearance as a key element of an effective global response to climate change.

So what exactly is the ‘Forest Carbon Partnership’?

The partnership has three elements:

First, PNG and Australia will engage in a strategic policy dialogue on climate change, with a particular focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, or REDD for short. The aim of this dialogue will be to support negotiations on the development of market-based incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from REDD, and to ensure PNG and Australia can participate in these markets.

Secondly, Australia will help PNG develop its own national carbon accounting system. This is important, because if it can’t measure changes in its forest carbon stocks over time, PNG will be unable to participate effectively in global carbon markets.

Finally, Australia and PNG will work together to maximise participation in global carbon markets. We will share our experiences as we develop our own credit schemes, and Australia will help PNG in identifying and implementing incentive-based REDD demonstration activities.

Fleshing out further detail of this partnership was on the agenda at the Ministerial Forum held in Madang last week. As a sign of the importance Australia attaches to the issue, Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, attended the Forum, and held fruitful discussions with Papua New Guinean Ministers, as did Australia’s Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett.

Ministers attending the Forum noted the importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation for both PNG and Australia and agreed on some initial steps to take forward cooperation under the Forest Carbon Partnership.

Australia agreed to provide scientific, analytical and technical expertise to help PNG develop a national carbon accounting system, and allocated $3 million to support early cooperative activities.

Our Ministers also agreed to share information and explore possible cooperation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to ensure that a future international climate change agreement included a market-based mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

Australia believes the development of market-based incentives to preserve forests in developing countries is an ideal way of supporting the economic development of local communities while at the same time fighting climate change. Papua New Guinea, in particular, would seem to have a great deal to gain from such incentives, given its great development needs and its ownership of one of the world’s four remaining significant tropical forests.

To my mind, our work together on climate change neatly symbolises the spirit of harmony and cooperation that characterises the bilateral relationship between our two countries. As Mr Rudd said during his visit to PNG, the time has come for us to turn a new page and write a new chapter in the Australia Papua New Guinea relationship.

We are doing that, we’re cooperating more and more on important issues – particularly on adaptation to the challenges of climate change – but from the government’s perspective we need to bring the population with us.

And that’s where you, the media, come into it. You have an extremely vital role in reporting on and explaining what for many people in the community is a complex and sometimes confusing issue.

I’m sure that many people in both PNG and Australia understand in very broad terms that climate change is a big problem that needs urgent attention. But I’m also fairly sure that the complexities of the issue are lost on most of us.

By devoting more air time and news print to the issue, the media in PNG can help to raise the level of awareness of climate change among the general public.

You might ask yourselves why this is so important.

It is important because governments can’t solve the issue of climate change by themselves – they need the support of ordinary people from all walks of life. In the coming decades, all of us will need to change our behaviour if the global war on climate change is to be won. By explaining the issues, by reporting on examples of environmental vandalism and by encouraging local communities, businesses and government agencies to work together to combat climate change, you can play a vital role in humanity’s efforts to confront what is perhaps the most pressing issue facing the world in the 21st century. – Thank you.