[LINK] Vale Gough Whitlam

[Stephen Loosley]

Marghanita writes,

> Vale Gough Whitlam

A pity such a bright light has currently been replaced by such a feeble, dim one ,,,


"Green Economy Index 2014: Australia ranked last for leadership"

By  Inga Ting, October 21, 2014  (snip) http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/green-economy-index-2014-australia-ranked-last-for-leadership-20141020-118s1t.html


Australia has fallen sharply in international green economy rankings, coming last out of 60 countries for performance on political leadership and climate change .

Our performance now lags behind developing nations such as Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia and Rwanda, according to the 2014 Global Green Economy Index. A green economy is one that improves the quality of life while reducing its environmental impact.

"Australia has seen a sharp decline since the change of government," said Jeremy Tamanini, chief executive of Dual Citizen, the Washington consultancy that produced the research.

"Its head of state [Tony Abbott] has a negative association with the green economy concept."

The 2014 index included more countries and indicators than in 2012 but Australia's fall in international standing was nonetheless "dramatic", he said.

The latest report attributes Australia's poor result for leadership to "negative [global] media coverage" and "unconstructive behaviour in international forums".

It said Australia is "a rare case" – along with a handful of countries including Japan, the Netherlands and the US – that gets more credit for its green economic performance than it deserves.

However, it also noted the debate about the carbon tax had "thrust the country into the international spotlight", which would perhaps bring Australia's international reputation more into alignment with its actual green economic performance.

Opposition climate change spokesperson Mark Butler said Australia's rank of "dead last" for leadership and climate change was "not in the least bit surprising, given Tony Abbott's ... refusal to attend the UN Climate Summit in September or include climate change on the G20 agenda".

Greens leader Christine Milne accused the Prime Minister of "well and truly demolish[ing] Australia's standing as a world leader in addressing global warming".

The index uses data from various sources, including the International Energy Agency, Cornell University, Yale University and the international INSEAD business school, to measure each country's performance and perception. Perception scores are based on an international survey of more than 1000 practitioners in green economy sectors.

Sweden, Norway and Costa Rica topped this year's performance rankings; Germany, Denmark and Sweden scored highest for international reputation, or perception.

The government did not respond to questions about the index, or Australia's slide in the international rankings ..