PM - Campbell argues for geosequestration at climate change meeting

MARK COLVIN: Geosequestration is a mouthful to say and the concept of geosequestration, pumping greenhouse gases into rock deep below the oceans and storing them, has proved a little hard to swallow internationally.Australia's bid to change international law to allow it, has met some resistance at a UN climate change meeting in Zurich.The Federal Environment minister Ian Campbell says there's some "ideological opposition" to the proposal but he's pressing ahead nevertheless.On the line from the Zurich ministerial summit, Senator Campbell spoke to Alexandra Kirk.IAN CAMPBELL: Today I was asked to lead a debate on technology transfer, and what we're pushing for is a high-level working group to become a permanent part of the United Nations framework to address technology transfer.What does that mean in practical terms? It means that where you get a technology, for example, a low-emission light bulb, or a breakthrough in photovoltaics or solar cells, that you can ensure that that technology gets transferred across the world as quickly as possible. ALEXANDRA KIRK: Transferred to whom though?IAN CAMPBELL: Well, if you know, for example, that in Australia, by every Australian changing to low-emission bulbs from the old bulbs, that you can actually do away with an entire power station, just think what getting that technology transferred to every household across every developed and developing country, place in the world, can achieve. At the moment there are huge barriers to that technology transfer - intellectual property rights, the operation of good governance systems, good investment systems. If you want to get renewable energy technologies into many parts of the developing world, many developers are worried about losing their intellectual property rights.So these are very serious issues, and if we can down these barriers to deploying low-emission technologies, clean energy technologies, then we can really make a radical difference to addressing climate change.ALEXANDRA KIRK: The developing countries though, were looking for a fund to try and help them afford some of these new technologies. You've said no. Why?IAN CAMPBELL: Well, there are already funds that are in existence to assist with that. Yes, we need more government money. Yes, we need more aid money. But if you don't have secure property rights, if you don't have protection of intellectual property rights then the owners of the low emissions technology, the renewable technologies aren't going to go there, so we have to get those right.ALEXANDRA KIRK: But won't a lot of those developing countries miss out because they probably don't have a very sophisticated system for protection, for example, of intellectual property rights?IAN CAMPBELL: Addressing the climate change challenge is so important that this could in fact be a driver for better governance structures in the developing world. They have to be made right anyway for the development of those countries. Climate change could be another big driver of that reform.ALEXANDRA KIRK: And what support have you had for your idea or your push to change the rules of the international law to allow carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, to be buried under the sea bed, which is currently prohibited?IAN CAMPBELL: There's divided views on that. It seems to me that a number of countries are very happy to see the burying of carbon under the sea bed. The only stress seems to be with proposals just to put it under the sea.The view I put to my ministerial colleagues today was that we need to be guided by science, not emotion, on this. If it can be proven that just pumping it down under the depths of the sea is safe and secure, then we should pursue it.The challenge of climate change is so important to the world and so important to Australia that we need to leave our ideological baggage at the door. All technologies must be on the table and burying carbon under the sea or under the sea bed is going to be a part of the solution, only a part of the solution.ALEXANDRA KIRK: What was their objection?IAN CAMPBELL: Some people are saying that pumping carbon under the sea won't work or it will be dangerous. Well, I don't know the answer to that, I don't think they know the answer to it. We know that we don't want carbon to go up to the atmosphere in the way it's been going in the past. We know that sequestration, that is burying carbon under the ground, can work because it's been tried and proven. If someone believes that you can pump it under the ocean and make it work, well, let's spend some money, let's research that, let's get science and engineering to guide us on it.MARK COLVIN: The Federal Environment Minister, Senator Ian Campbell