'Free-riders' (that's us) threaten Paris climate action

The Paris climate agreement finalised in December last year heralded a new era for climate action. For the first time, the world’s nations agreed to keep global warming well below the critical threshold of 2℃.

This is vital for climate-vulnerable nations. Fewer than 4% of countries are responsible for more than half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. In a study published today in Nature Scientific Reports, we reveal just how deep this injustice runs.

Developed nations such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and European countries are essentially climate “free-riders”: causing the majority of the problem (through high greenhouse gas emissions), while incurring few of the costs (such as climate change’s impact on food and water).

Read an article on The Conversation by a trio of authors - “Australia, the US and Europe are climate ‘free-riders’: it’s time to step up.”

(Most literature about the commons, which Earth’s atmosphere is, will detail the loss of its value, usefulness and importance through abuse by free-riders and here Glenn Althor, PdD Candidate at The University of Queensland; James Watson, an Associate professor at the same university; and another Associate professor from the Queensland university, Richard Fuller, see Australia, the U.S., Canada and European countries as climate “free-riders” Robert McLean.)

'Climate babble' seems never-ending

A

ustralians are subjected to never-ending “climate babble”.

Treasurer, Joe Hockey, -
stealing his term
- Australia has become a
 nation of
global warming "leaners".

Listen to the government and Australia, and Australians, are climate mitigation champions – Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, confidently delivered that message just today.

Listen to climate change credentialed people from other parts of the world and Australia is a “free-rider”, contradicting Minister Hunt’s message.

To plagiarize Treasurer Joe Hockey’s phrase, when it comes to dealing with the dilemma of global warming, Australia is a “leaner” and we are leaving the “lifting” up to other countries.

Australians are among the world’s worst per-capita emitters of carbon dioxide and the situation has only worsened since the Abbott Government removed what it wrongly described as the “carbon tax”.

The judgement of Australians being “free-riders” is not parochial political view, rather a consideration of an international panel.

Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Hannam, has written about that in today Age in a story headed: “Australia singled out as a climate change 'free-rider' by international panel”.