In 2050 I'll be 67, a similar age to many of those currently in positions of decision-making power. As a young person I have a simple request of the current generation of decision makers - please leave the planet in at least as good a condition as you found it. I want to be able to enjoy the same sort of prosperity, peace and beautiful places that make Australia so wonderful. I want to enjoy a similar global climate that my parents, grandparents and generations before them enjoyed and for my children to do the same.
This request resonates with generations of Australians who have sought to leave this country just a little bit better for their children.
The Government's policy is to set an emissions reduction target between 5 and 25 per cent of 2000 levels by 2020. This is intended to reflect the assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that to have a 50 per cent chance of preventing global warming of two degrees, global emissions of carbon dioxide must stabilise below 450 parts per million.
Two degrees' warming is often cited as a threshold beyond which we can expect to witness climate disaster, with catastrophic impacts predicted for natural systems that support human life. However, a two-degree rise in global temperature means the loss of many island nations, significant reduction in Australia's agricultural capacity and the loss of the Great Barrier Reef.
Consequently, the best-case scenario in the Government's policy position gives young Australians a 50 per cent chance of enduring climate disaster.
Imagine getting on a plane with a 50 per cent chance of crashing. This is not a level of risk that most Australians would take with their property, let alone their children's wellbeing.
The Government must aim for, and advocate globally, far greater emissions reductions. Many of the world's best scientists, backed by Al Gore and Sir Nicholas Stern, have stated that a safe upper limit of carbon dioxide is 350 parts per million.
It would be no small task to achieve this. In Australia, it would necessitate an emissions reduction target of more than 40 per cent by 2020. It would require a rapid and immediate transformation in energy use, transport, agriculture and more - which leads to the further disconnect in policy.
The scheme proposed by the Government, with its inadequate targets, large compensation to polluters and unlimited allowance for international permits, will not enable the transformation of the Australian economy. If the Liberal Party's amendments to ''brown down'' the scheme are incorporated, it will have no chance.
Contrast the response of the global community to the global financial crisis, which was swift, immediate, co-ordinated and timely. A response was created in months, not years, and consequently we seem to have emerged relatively unscathed.
Perhaps responding to the financial crisis was about maintaining the status quo, while responding to the climate crisis will fundamentally challenge and transform the status quo.
Powerful interests are challenged by an adequate response to climate change. This has been strongly reflected in the debate on emissions, in which polluting industries have drowned out other voices.
The Australian Government and governments globally must not abdicate their responsibility to the young. They must find a global solution based on a 350 parts per million upper limit and take action immediately to implement it. They must reject the narrow self-interest of polluting industries and find a solution that will safeguard the future of young people everywhere.
What else can be worth more to a society that its citizens, their children and their future?
In 2050, it is likely that we will look back and consider 2009 as the year that nature rang the warning bells across Australia. In just one year, we have experienced terrible and unprecedented bushfires, heatwaves, floods and storms across the country that have resulted in loss of life and property. What these disasters give us is a window into the future.
In 2050, people will look back at 2009, at the actions of our leaders and know if they deserved that title. Did they make the difficult call to transform Australia and transform the world and steer humanity back from the brink? Or did they fiddle with half-measures, distractions, and inaction until it was too late?
Amanda McKenzie is co-director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and 2009 Banksia Joint Young Environmentalist of the Year. She will join Tim Colebatch and David Karoly for the Hamer Oration on Good Government at Melbourne University tonight.
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