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to withhold State funding unless profits are spent on dams, recycling projects or desalination plants.

The Liberal party has made a promising effort with their Global Initiative on Forests and Climate' . This project is to be started off with a promised $200 million fund from the government which will go towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This will be achieved through the reduction of deforesting that occurs. This will not only reduce greenhouse gases but also help slow down the destruction of forests. The promised $200 billion will specifically be used to:

Increase forest planting
Promote plans to help sustain our forests
Encourage international action on climate change and deforestation
Reduce the current deforestation that is occurring

However, this funding of deforestation will mostly occur in selected projects in other countries. The actual intended aim of this venture is split between tackling climate change and deforestation and strengthening relations with other countries. This project is a joint venture primarily created by John Howard, Malcolm Turnbull and Alexander Downer.

5. What are the main sources of information?

There are two main sources of information on climate change that are politically influential. The first is the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. This report was published in 2006 by Sir Nicholas Stern, an economist.

our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century'

The report clearly established a link between the science of climate change and the economic repercussions. This 700 page report has been hugely influential and raised significant awareness of the economic issues associated with climate change. John Howard responded to the report by pledging $60 million to projects aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The report also prompted responses from the British Prime Minister, Greenpeace and several Nobel Prize winning economists.

Another influential document is the ICPP Report released in February by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This report is the first of four to be released. It explains the science behind Climate Change and provides evidence of the effects. It makes predictions relating to the severity of the situation

The recent movie An Inconvenient Truth must also be mentioned. This movie very much awakened many people to the issue of climate change. The publicity created by Al Gore's presentation has proved very useful in informing the world of this serious issue.

6. Conclusion

It is clear that climate change presents a danger to both the environment and economy. Australia is evidently already experiencing the effects of climate change and the Australian population is well aware of this. The Australian Labor Party has taken a very active role in this issue although the Australian Liberal Party does not seem to be as committed to solving the issue and its genuine interest in the subject is questionable. The Liberal Party seems to address the problems caused by climate change rather than actually formulating policies to combat rising greenhouse gas emissions. As Kevin Rudd has stated, this issue is above political debate and requires cooperation from all political view points.

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