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As keynote speaker at the Jesuit Lenten Seminar in Sydney earlier
this month, Raper argued that our national response to climate change,
which is an emissions trading scheme, will have a disproportionately
adverse impact on low income households.
‘Low income households actually use less energy than high income
households', said Raper. ‘They don't have the plasma televisions, and
the swimming pools and the heat or the gates in the front of the
estate.'
They are also less likely to be in less desirable places, and less
able to be adapted to climate change issues. The economic impact of
climate change and measures to combat it will mean affordability will
be an even greater issue than it is today.
‘Indigenous Australians are right up front. Aboriginal Australians
are right on the edge when it comes to climate change. And we will all
need to get used to extreme weather more often', he said.
‘This isn't to say I'm opposing a national emissions trading scheme
... but we have to analyse the impacts and we have to address them
quickly, lest we face a crisis.'
In his keynote speech in the Melbourne leg of the Jesuit Lenten
Seminars, Australian Conservation Foundation Executive Director Don
Henry called for safety net provisions to ensure the poor are not made
worse off by any measures the government takes.
‘Because poorer households have a bigger portion of their budget
being used on utilities such as electricity, there will need to be some
safety net provisions to ensure the poor are not worse off as action is
taken to tackle climate change', said Watson.
This was one of three issues raised by Watson. The others were
international leadership from Australia, and the need to adopt strong
2020 targets to cut emissions, boost clean energy usage and be more
efficient in how we use energy.
‘Wealthier countries should be aiming to cut emissions somewhere
between 25 and 40 per cent by somewhere between 25 and 40 per cent by
2020', he said.
He also had a note of hope, saying that we have a window of opportunity in which our actions can benefit future generations.
The other speakers also asked what our legacy would be to future generations, as Australians and as Christians.
Sister Maryanne Loughry, Associate Director of Jesuit Refugee
Service, spoke about her visit to Kiribati next year, where the effects
of climate change are already being seen.
‘Kiribati is one of the smallest emitting nations, but it's experiencing most effect of CO2', she said. ‘It's completely already compromised.'
Again she called for planning and leadership from our government.
‘I really would call upon our government to consider what sort of
reception we might have for people who've had to move', she said.
Jesuit Father Michael Kelly, the Executive Director of Church
Resources, said that while the Catholic Church had been slow to adapt
its thinking on modern concerns such as climate change, it still had a
role to play in shaping our response.
He raised a number of questions to consider in any response, particularly the impact of our lifestyle on others.
‘Does our resource use pressure others, particularly the poor, to
adopt environmentally damaging economic practices?' he asked. ‘Do we
take other people's needs as seriously as our own in the allocation of
resources? What kind of weight do we attach to the risk of
environmental damage as a consequence of our actions or of policies we
support?'
This year's Jesuit Lenten Seminars were held in Melbourne on 5 March
and Sydney on 6 March. The topic was ‘Climate Change: Who Pays the
Price'. They were sponsored by Jesuit Refugee Service, Jesuit Social
Services, The Loyola Institute and Eureka Street.
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