Kyoto 'ineffective and boosts emissions'

The Kyoto Protocol is ineffective and will actually boost greenhouse gas emissions, federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell says.
Senator Campbell defended Australia's refusal to sign up to the international treaty during his opening address at the Queensland government's Climate Change Summit on Tuesday.
His comments came only days after former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev stressed the need for countries like Australia and the United States to sign the pact, and accused both countries of "marching in the wrong way" on the issue.
"The Kyoto Protocol was an historic step forward for the world," Senator Campbell told the summit.
"Unfortunately, it ignored almost totally around 70 per cent of the world's emissions.
"Under Kyoto if everyone meets their targets, the world's greenhouse gas emissions will, in fact, go up between 1990 and the year 2012 by around 41 per cent.
"So, it's not effective."
Australia and the US have steadfastly refused to sign the 1997 international treaty, which sets targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Senator Campbell said countries that criticised Australia also got "joy out of hunting whales" and were massively exceeding their Kyoto targets.
"We do get lectured from time to time here in Queensland, in Australia, by Europeans and others that we should've signed Kyoto as some sort of magic silver bullet," he said.
"(But) we have been working very hard with the United Nations Framework Convention (on Climate Change) to design something that goes post Kyoto that's far more effective."
The two-day summit held at parliament house is exploring how Queensland will cope with climate change.
More than 80 delegates are attending, including representatives from the resources, primary industries and conservation sectors.
It follows the major international environmental forum Earth Dialogues, which was co-chaired by Mr Gorbachev and finished in Brisbane on Monday.
Senator Campbell said battling climate change was a "50 year policy challenge".
He said Australia had to invest heavily domestically to find solutions to climate change, but it also had to "act globally" by becoming involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's G8 initiative.
It also had to invest in alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal and solar, and pursue carbon dioxide capture and geological storage, which involves storing gas underground, he said.
"From my point of view we've got risks to our economy if we get it wrong, we've got risks to our environment if we get it wrong," Senator Campbell said.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said he hoped the summit would help people "face up to the realities" of climate change.
He said in 25 years, Brisbane would experience a hotter and drier climate similar to that of Rockhampton.
By 2030, Queensland's annual rainfall would drop by 30 per cent and as much as 40 per cent by the year 2070, while more violent storms and more frequent cyclones could become a reality, he said.
"Hopefully, people will come to understand that climate change is a reality and we need to change with it," Mr Beattie said.
© 2006 AAP