Sharan Burrow of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, John Connor of The Climate Institute, and Don Henry of the Australian Conservation Foundation held a press conference Tuesday afternoon (Copenhagen time) to recognise the role that Kevin Rudd has played in the lead up to these discussions and can play in breaking the deadlock.

They identified three areas central to both a breakthrough and a satisfactory agreement:

1. To bring developed and developing nations together, Australia should support an extension to the Kyoto Protocol with our target set at a 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020.

2. To complement Kyoto and ensure that an agreement is binding, Australia should advocate a six month deadline to finalise a legally binding global treaty that includes fair commitments from the US, China and other major polluters.

3. Climate financing in the order of $160 billion per year by 2020 including a carbon price on emissions from international shipping and aviation. This fund would drive new industries and development as developing countries address adaptation and mitigation challenges. (less info)