{"id":2287,"date":"2014-11-15T18:41:30","date_gmt":"2014-11-15T18:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2016-08-12T15:28:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-12T15:28:01","slug":"obama-protect-barrier-reef-from-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/obama-protect-barrier-reef-from-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama: protect Barrier Reef from climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michelle Grattan<\/a>, University of Canberra<\/em><\/p>\n

United States President Barack Obama has given Australia a sharp prod on climate change, saying he wanted his future grandchildren to be able to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n

Obama, addressing an enthusiastic audience<\/a> including mostly young people at the University of Queensland, also wryly referred to the \u201chealthy debate\u201d that had taken place in Australia on the climate issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in the Asia-Pacific nobody has more at stake when it comes to thinking about and then acting on climate change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere a climate that increases in temperature will mean more extreme and frequent storms, more flooding, rising seas that submerge Pacific islands. Here in Australia it means longer droughts, more wildfires. The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama said that worldwide, the past summer was the hottest on record. \u201cNo nation is immune, and every nation has the responsibility to do its part.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said one of the things that the US and Australia had in common was that they produced a lot of carbon. Partly this was the legacy of wide open spaces and the frontier mentality and an incredible abundance of resources. \u201cSo historically we have not been the most energy efficient of nations – which means we\u2019ve got to step up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the US, carbon pollution was near its lowest levels in almost two decades, and under his climate action plan \u201cwe intend to do more\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Beijing Obama announced new post-2020 goals<\/a>, as part of a deal with China which set out a timetable for peaking its emissions.<\/p>\n

Obama said the reason the China commitment was so important was because if China, with its large population, had the same per capita emissions as advanced economies like the US or Australia the planet wouldn\u2019t stand a chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo them setting up a target sends a powerful message to the world that all countries – whether you are a developed country, a developing country or somewhere in between – you\u2019ve got to be able to overcome old divides, look squarely at the science and reach a strong global climate agreement next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if China and the United States can agree on this, then the world can agree on this – we can get this done and it is necessary for us to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama said he had not had time to go to the Great Barrier Reef but \u201cI want to come back, and I want my daughters to be able to come back, and I want them to be able to bring their daughters or sons to visit. And I want that there 50 years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The President announced<\/a> the US would contribute US$3 billion to the Green Climate Fund to help developing nations deal with climate change.<\/p>\n

Obama said, in a message directed particularly to the young people in the audience, that combating climate change could not be the work of government alone. Citizens, especially the next generation, had to keep raising their voices. \u201cYou deserve to live your lives in a world that is cleaner, that is healthier, that is sustainable. But that\u2019s not going to happen unless you are heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it was in the nature of the world that \u201cthose of us who start getting grey hair are a little set in our ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make investments and companies start depending on certain energy sources, and change is uncomfortable and difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why it is so important for the next generation to be able to step in and say \u2026 it doesn\u2019t have to be this way. We have the power to imagine a new future in a way that some of the older folk don\u2019t always have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama reaffirmed the commitment he made when visiting Australia three years ago to deepen America\u2019s commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. He said that when he became president, leaders and people across this region were expressing their desire for greater American engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo as President, I decided that given the importance of this region to American security, American prosperity, the United States would rebalance our foreign policy and play a larger and lasting role in this region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we\u2019ve done. Today, our alliances, including with Australia, are stronger than they\u2019ve ever been. American exports to this region have reached record levels. We\u2019ve deepened our cooperation with emerging powers and regional organisations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US had an \u201cironclad\u201d commitment to the sovereignty, independence and the security of every ally \u201cand will expand cooperation between allies, because we believe we are stronger when we stand together\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the US would continue to modernise its defence posture across the region, and continue broadening its cooperation with emerging powers and emerging economies.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>.
\nRead the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra United States President Barack Obama has given Australia a sharp prod on climate change, saying he wanted his future grandchildren to be able to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef. Obama, addressing an enthusiastic audience including mostly young people at the University of Queensland, also wryly referred to the \u201chealthy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":5624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2287"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5625,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions\/5625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}