IPCC Motion

That Council: 

1. welcome the release by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the report entitled ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’;
   
   
2. note that this report states that ‘it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land’, and that this is making extreme climate events (including heat waves, heavy rainfall, and, in some regions, droughts) more frequent and severe;
   
   
3. note that the report stresses that only rapid, near term reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases, can limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius;
   
   
4. note that the impacts of a warming of 2 degrees or more would lead to a substantial increase in the likelihood of extreme heat waves, heavy precipitation, and droughts (both agricultural and ecological);
   
   
5. note that the Paris Agreement requires that all participating countries act with the highest possible ambition in reducing emissions;
   
   
6. note that participating countries are expected under that Agreement to submit increasingly ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years, and that the Federal Government, which in December 2020, resubmitted the original NDC made in 2015, has thus failed to fulfill its obligation to that Agreement (unlike the European Union, United States, Canada, Norway, and more);
   
   
7. note that the Paris Agreement states that it ‘will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of differential national circumstances’, and that Australia ought, as a wealthy country, to act before those who are less wealthy, not least as a sign of good faith for further international cooperation;
   
   
8. note that, if other countries were to adopt national emissions targets similar to our own, it is very likely that global temperatures would increase by at least 2 degrees, and possibly by as much as 3 degrees;
   
   
9. note that Australia can become a global leader for clean, renewable, energy and exports, and, with the right policies, could replace all of our fossil fuel jobs with clean jobs – some reports estimate that more than one million jobs could be created throughout our country – while cleaning up our air, and diversifying our economy;
   
   
10. call, therefore, upon the Mayor to write a letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, demanding that the Federal Government commit to a 2030 target of at least 75% reduction in emissions; and
    

12.  call on the Member for [Federal electorate/s] to sign the Community Protection Pledge – a set of 10 commitments, based on the Final report of the National Bushfire and Climate Summit 2020, for keeping residents safe from worsening extreme weather (including adequate funding to support the critical role of Local Governments in disaster preparedness and recovery).

This text directly quotes the IPCC Summary for Policymakers report.

Australian Federal politicians say we will “meet our target in a canter” or that we are “meeting and beating our targets”. This means we should be aiming higher!

We have everything to gain, and with the right transition policies, nothing to lose, by acting strongly and decisively on climate.

Local governments need funds to mitigate emissions and to make our communities more resilient.