Oz PM defends coal after UN warning on climate
6 Nov 2014 4:39 AM IST
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday defended using coal to generate energy as ‘the foundation of our prosperity’, after the United Nations warned that carbon emissions were leading to disaster.
UN climate experts said on Sunday that emissions of three key greenhouse gases were at their highest levels in more than 800,000 years and Earth was on track for temperatures to rise by at least four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 over pre-industrial times.
Asked about the issue, Abbott said that coal, a key export commodity for Australia and its source of energy, was still critical to the nation’s economy.‘For the foreseeable future coal is the foundation of our prosperity,’ Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
‘Coal is the foundation of the way we live because you can’t have a modern lifestyle without energy. You can’t have a modern economy without energy and for now and for the foreseeable future, the foundation of Australia’s energy needs will be coal,’ he added.
Abbott said the fossil fuel was also crucial for the world’s energy needs and would help raise living standards in less developed countries.‘If we are serious about maintaining living standards in countries like Australia, we have to be serious about making the best use of coal,’ he said. Coal, gas and oil are the main source of global carbon emissions but also the backbone of the world’s energy supply. In its landmark review the UN’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change warned that unless carbon emissions were arrested, warming would bring worsening drought, flood, rising sea levels and species extinctions.
UN climate experts said on Sunday that emissions of three key greenhouse gases were at their highest levels in more than 800,000 years and Earth was on track for temperatures to rise by at least four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 over pre-industrial times.
Asked about the issue, Abbott said that coal, a key export commodity for Australia and its source of energy, was still critical to the nation’s economy.‘For the foreseeable future coal is the foundation of our prosperity,’ Abbott told reporters in Sydney.
‘Coal is the foundation of the way we live because you can’t have a modern lifestyle without energy. You can’t have a modern economy without energy and for now and for the foreseeable future, the foundation of Australia’s energy needs will be coal,’ he added.
Abbott said the fossil fuel was also crucial for the world’s energy needs and would help raise living standards in less developed countries.‘If we are serious about maintaining living standards in countries like Australia, we have to be serious about making the best use of coal,’ he said. Coal, gas and oil are the main source of global carbon emissions but also the backbone of the world’s energy supply. In its landmark review the UN’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change warned that unless carbon emissions were arrested, warming would bring worsening drought, flood, rising sea levels and species extinctions.
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