The Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC) welcomes the release of the Northern Territory Government’s Climate Change Response: Towards 2050 as a timely step in the right direction ahead of the global climate strikes on September 20th. However, the Response does not map a clear path toward decarbonising our economy.
“The government’s response to climate change demonstrates they are committed to taking action, however we need a concrete plan that details exactly how they will ensure that the Northern Territory is equipped to deal with the impacts of the climate crisis,” said ALEC CEO Jimmy Cocking.
ALEC commended the NT Government’s enthusiasm for renewable energy including a hydrogen economy and large solar projects in the Barkly region, and its support for traditional Aboriginal carbon-management techniques. ALEC praised the report’s emphasis on local government collaboration to develop strategies for climate adaptation.
While ALEC supports the Government’s commitment to a target of zero emissions by 2050, it believes that interim targets are essential to achieving this goal.
“Zero emissions by 2050 is great as an aspirational target, but we need targets for 2025 and 2035 to make sure we are on track to achieve that,” said Mr Cocking.
“We need to reduce emissions from all sectors: agriculture, transport, residential, commercial and waste. Each sector needs to have a greenhouse reduction target they are working towards and action plans for how those targets are going to be achieved.”
ALEC is concerned that the Response outlines a proposed increase in carbon emissions over the next ten years.
“ALEC’s view is that we should be looking to decarbonise our economy now, and the best way to do that is to ban fracking, invest in renewables and support land-based carbon sequestration,” said Mr Cocking.
“There are things that every industry, every level of government, and every individual can do to ensure that we have a safe climate for future generations.”
ALEC urges interested parties to read the Climate Change Response: Towards 2050 and previous submissions on the Climate Change Discussion Paper before submitting on the Climate Change Response by October 31st.
Download the report at: https://haveyoursay.nt.gov.au/49504/documents/116898
Submissions: https://haveyoursay.nt.gov.au/climate-change-response/survey_tools/northern-territory-climate-change-response