Hundreds of thousands of people have marched to show support for action on climate change in major cities across the globe, including London, Berlin, Bogota, Paris, Delhi, and Melbourne – and in Braidwood a picnic was held on the banks of Monkittee Creek.
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It’s estimated that over 675,000 came out in support around the world. In New York City the march stretched over 80 city blocks with over 300,000 people attending, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, while 120 world leaders are attending the global climate Summit in Manhattan.
US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron will attend the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit this week however Australia’s PM Mr Abbott will not be attending.
Jenny Goldie from Climate Action Monaro (CAM) said “The decision by Prime Minister Tony Abbott not to attend the UN Climate Summit in New York on 23 September is irresponsible.
The Prime Minister is avoiding the Climate Summit, even though 125 other world leaders will be there. Mr Abbott, however, will arrive the following day for talks on security issues.
Ms Goldie, said :it is ironic that Mr Abbott sees fit to attend security talks yet fails to recognise that climate change is emerging as the major global security issue.”
“You need look no further than Syria where prolonged drought, a function of climate change, caused widespread hunger which led in turn to major unrest and civil war,” says Ms Goldie.
Global emissions of carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels reached a new record of 36 billion tonnes last year. At the same time, the pace of emissions from burning fossil fuels continues to grow at a high rate.
Executive-Director of the Global Carbon Project (GCP) and co-author of the 2014 report CSIRO's Dr Pep Canadell said the carbon dioxide level was "unprecedented in human history".
Dr Canadell said fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions are projected to increase 2.5 per cent this year, bringing the total carbon dioxide emissions from all sources above 40 billion tonnes.
"Fossil fuel emissions in the past 10 years on average grew at 2.5 per cent per year, lower than the growth rate in the 2000s (which was 3.3 per cent per year) but higher than the growth rate in the 1990s (1 per cent)," Dr Canadell said.
"The declining growth rate in recent years is associated with lower GDP growth compared to the 2000s, particularly in China."
The report shows that Australian emissions continued to decline in 2013, adding to a downward trend that began in 2009, largely due to the decline in electricity generation from coal power plants.
The largest emitters in 2013 were China, USA, the European Union, and India, together accounting for 58 per cent of global emissions.
Fossil fuel emissions are tracking the high end of emissions scenarios used by climate scientists to project climate change using global circulation models.
The GCP provides an annual report of carbon dioxide emissions, land and ocean sinks and accumulation in the atmosphere, incorporating data from multiple research institutes from around the world.
The full data and methods are published today in the journal Earth System Science Data Discussions, with associated papers in the journals Nature Geoscience and Nature Climate Change. Data and other graphic materials can be found at: www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget
