Kevin Rudd Wake Up Call

Photo Opportunity
Kevin Rudd Gets a Wake Up Call on Climate Change

Global Climate Wake Up Call
Monday 21 September, 10.15am
Meet in front of South Melbourne Surf Lifesaving Club,
Beaconsfield Parade, Albert Park

International aid and development agency, Oxfam Australia, is highlighting the need for world leaders including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to `wake up to climate change' as the countdown begins to the global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.

Children in Melbourne including several from Pacific Island communities - will use a large alarm clock to wake up a sleeping caricature of Kevin Rudd as part of awareness raising events on climate change planned across the globe on Monday 21 September.

The caricature of the Prime Minister with oversize glass fibre head and wearing pyjamas - will be asleep in a double bed placed in the shallow waters on St Kilda beach.

With many Pacific Islands lying just a few metres above sea level, Australia's neighbours are particularly vulnerable to even the smallest changes in global climatic patterns.

"Pacific Island communities are already experiencing increasing food and water shortages, losing land as a result of rising sea levels and coping with more frequent flooding and storm surges," Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett said.

A recent report by Oxfam estimates that by the year 2050, 75 million people could be forced to leave their homes in the Asia-Pacific region due to climate change.

"Climate change is shaping into the biggest humanitarian issue we face this century. World leaders need to wake up to the real threat already being posed by climate change and the pressing need to find a global climate change deal in Copenhagen in December," Oxfam's Campaign Coordinator for Victoria Tom Schauble said.

Preventing catastrophic climate change in the Pacific means keeping warming as far below 20C as possible compared to pre-industrial temperatures. To achieve this, developed countries including Australia must reduce their carbon emissions by at least 40 per cent globally by 2020.

A successful deal in Copenhagen must also include a commitment of funding by Australia and other developed nations to help developing nations both reduce their emissions reductions and adapt to the growing impact of climate change. Climate funding of US$50 billion annually is needed for adaptation and must be in addition to existing aid commitments, with Australia's fair share calculated as US$1.5 billion.

Oxfam is a leading international aid agency working with communities around the world for solutions to poverty and social injustice

For further media information on this event, please contact:
Tom Schauble
Tel 0418 181 916
email [email protected]


SOURCE: Oxfam