Everest record holder calls for climate action by Australia
Media release - Monday August 11
The world’s fastest Mount Everest climber, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, today called on the Rudd Government to halve Australia’s carbon pollution by the middle of the decade to help stop the big melt in the Himalayas.
Mr Sherpa said his home was changing because of global warming.
“The glaciers around Everest are disappearing and our way of life is being threatened,” he said.
“I ask Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: please take real action to stop the big melt.”
Mr Sherpa’s call for action coincided with the release today of a report by Friends of the Earth which says the big melt in the Himalayas is the one of humanity’s single greatest threats from global warming.
Friends of the Earth spokesperson Damien Lawson said the report, High Stakes – Climate change, the Himalayas, Asia and Australia, showed that more than one billion people in Asia were at risk.
“Warming across the greater Himalayas is two-to-four times the global average. This rise in temperature will increase hazards such as avalanches, debris flows, landslides and flash floods,” he said.
“This increase in temperature will also result in water shortages. The giant Asian rivers like the Ganges in India and the Yellow River in China rely on the glaciers in the dry season for water flows. Unless we stop the big melt more than one billion people in these river basins could lose their water and food security.
“Australia's current climate policy will be a disaster for the people of Asia who rely on these glaciers and their rivers. The government must change its approach and adopt strong targets and stop trying to out source pollution cuts to poorer countries.”
The High Stakes report says Australia's climate policy, including the targets in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation due to be voted on in the Senate this week, will not halt the glacial melt in the Himalayas.
The report also recommends the Australian Government join less-developed countries and shift its Copenhagen targets from 450 ppm C02e to well below 350 ppm C02e.
Yesterday Mr Sherpa and Prakash Sharma, Executive Director of Pro-Public Nepal, joined Friends of Earth campaigners in a climb of Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko, to protest the failure by developed countries, including Australia, to adopt strong targets and fair policies in the international climate negotiations.
“We demand climate justice. Many countries in Asia are the least responsible for global warming yet rich countries’ pollution is already harming our economy, environment and societies. Australia must do more,” Mr Sharma said.
Mr Sherpa and Mr Sharma will also meet with politicians and departmental officials in Canberra today and tomorrow seeking immediate adaptation assistance for countries in the Himalayas, to deal with glacial lake flooding.
Over the next week, Pemba Dorje Sherpa and Prakash Sharma will participate in a speaking tour in all major capital cities along Australia’s east coast, beginning tonight in Canberra. The tour is supported by the Intrepid Foundation.
