Youth Climate Coalition agrees with Steve Fielding: 40% Carbon Cuts for Australia Needed

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition has found an unlikely ally in Senator Steve Fielding. Yesterday Senator Fielding came out and directly challenged the Australian government’s emissions targets: “If you really believe the science, how could you support anything other than 40 per cent?”

Josh Wyndham-Kidd, creator of the 8,900 strong Facebook Group ‘Steve Fielding is Not Real’ and member of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), responded, “The young people of Australia couldn’t agree more.”

AYCC, which is currently in Copenhagen with a team of 30 young Australians, has been campaigning for the past 12 months for Australia to reduce our carbon pollution at least 40% by 2020. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that to have a 50 per cent chance of avoiding dangerous 2 degree warming, industrialised countries like Australia must reduce emissions at least 25-40% by 2020. Australia’s targets in Copenhagen are only 5-15%, with the option of going up to 25% in the context of a global deal.

“It’s great to see Senator Fielding using his public platform to advocate scientifically sound policy,” said Anna Rose, co-director of the AYCC. “We share his bewilderment that our Government’s policy is based on political compromise rather than what the science demands – that’s why we’re here in Copenhagen.”

This morning in Copenhagen, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd meet with a representative from AYCC and a representative from Vision Generation, who presented him with the results of Youth Decide, Australia’s national youth vote on climate change. Youth Decide, a project of AYCC and World Vision, found that 91.5% of the young Australians who voted (34,267 of the 37,432) supported carbon reduction targets of 40% or higher.

“Australia must commit to the most ambitious targets possible in order to move forward the negotiations in Copenhagen. We need real leadership now to break the deadlock at these talks” stated AYCC Co-Director Amanda McKenzie, who met with Prime Minister Rudd this morning.

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition launched a petition, signed by over 2000 young Australians in the past 12 hours, for Australia to increase its carbon reduction targets in order to help break the deadlock at the United Nations Climate Talks. Almost 2,000 Australians have also sent messages of support and encouragement to Pacific Island negotiators, after rumours that Australia was pressing them to weaken their stance at the negotiations. The AYCC will present these messages of support to negotiators from the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) in Copenhagen today.

Half an hour ago the entire Australian Youth Delegation in Copenhagen began participating in a fast, going without food for 24 hours, in solidarity with the two Australian hunger strikers who are on the 42nd day of a fast for a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen.

AYCC volunteers in Australia, and ambassadors including Melbourne band Blue King Brown, will also participate in the fast. CEO of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello, has lent his support to the fast’s call for moral leadership.

“Young people around the world stand to lose the most from climate change and at this critical time are fasting for one day to show their solidarity with each other and their deep commitment to morality and justice in the UN climate talks.”