Climate inaction 'hindering' bid to end poverty -

AUSTRALIA is undermining its own efforts to fight poverty across the Asia-Pacific region by failing to take serious action on climate change, according to reports being released today by a coalition of aid, church and environment groups.
The dozen members of the Climate Change and Development Round Table warn that inaction is likely to come back to haunt Australia, with predictions of far more frequent, extreme natural and humanitarian disasters likely to result in higher emergency relief bills.
The warning echoes a recent World Bank report, which noted that a quarter of its international development projects are at risk from climate change.
Research by the CSIRO on behalf of the round table found that while climate change will have a major impact on Australia, its effects will be even more devastating in many of the poorest parts of the Asia-Pacific region, where there is now "little room for optimism".
Based on 186 regional climate studies, the CSIRO study found that coastal flooding and more intense tropical cyclones over coming decades could force millions of people from their homes in low-lying areas of Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, China and the Pacific Islands, possibly to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, including Australia.
Millions more are expected to be affected by rising temperatures, which would increase the risk of infectious diseases and exacerbate water shortages.
The Tongan-born leader of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania, the Reverend Jason Kioa, urged the Federal Government to show more leadership on the issue.
The round table's key recommendations include lifting Australia's overseas aid spending to catch up with most other developed nations; shifting large subsidies for fossil fuels like coal into renewable energy; reviewing immigration policies in anticipation of future "climate refugees"; and cutting Australia's high greenhouse gas emissions.
■THE expansion of Australia's dirtiest power station by the Bracks Government has destroyed its own efforts to tackle climate change, Victoria's environment lobby has said.
In a pre-election score card, a coalition of groups has branded the Government's second-term environment record as patchy and mediocre. A $400 million expansion of the coal-fired Hazelwood generator would cancel out any positive moves to cut greenhouse emissions, the coalition said.