At a ceremony here in Melbourne, the Make Poverty History coalition launched a report calling for Australia to support and, as a last resort, accept victims of climate change.
Make Poverty History co-chairman James Ensor said the call for a quota had emerged from growing concern within the aid community that people in developing countries were feeling the impact of climate change most acutely.
“In Tuvalu, farmers are resorting to growing crops in buckets to avoid sea inundation,” Ensor said.
“In the Carteret Islands — part of Papua New Guinea — there are already programs in place to relocate people off the islands on to Bougainville,” he said. “What is becoming increasingly clear around the world is that climate change is contributing to large scale movements of people.”
While internal relocation is possible and likely to increase in decades to come, it may not always be an option, Ensor said.
“As a regional leader and as a country that is one of the highest per capita carbon emitters in the world, we have a responsibility to help those working families just outside our border who are struggling as well,” he said.
The report calls for Australia to assist developing countries access clean technologies, expand their disaster capabilities, use revenues from an emissions trading scheme to help developing countries cope with climate change, set a strong target to reduce Australian carbon emissions and encourage other countries to reduce their emissions.
The report was produced by a Make Poverty History committee with contributions from the Pacific islander communities. It will be sent to Australian government ministers and Professor Ross Garnaut ahead of his final report in September this year.
