Act now on climate change

While some of the media find the present crisis involving the leadership of the Liberal Party the subject of light-hearted speculation, to me it is a matter of concern. It may constitute a struggle for the soul of the party, as some have put it, but there are more serious concerns. One is the possible loss of a consensus on the fundamentally important question of climate change, and what we as a nation should be doing about it. The other concern, if Malcolm Turnbull is toppled, is what could be the loss of the "small l" liberal consensus on the general direction of Australian politics.The latter is very important, I suggest, in terms of presenting an expression of what the majority of Australians consider should be our role in the major issues facing this country today. What to do about our beleaguered environment is only one of these issues, albeit an important one. When abroad we constantly speak about where Australia stands on basic issues like the role of the United Nations, arms control, and on specific security issues, like Iraq, Afghanistan, and the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapon capability to countries like North Korea and Iran. When diplomats talk about Australia's position on any one of these issues, in reality it means the position of leaders of the political party in government and not the national political consensus - it may not reflect the views of the population at large.Because it so deeply affects all of us, the climate change issue is a very testing one for Australia. It calls for a national expression of political will. Our sceptic politicians are something of an international embarrassment at a time when the Prime Minister is about to attend the UN Conference on Climate Change, which starts in Copenhagen next Monday. It is a critically important conference which will test the strength of the world community's resolve to deal with the deteriorating state of Earth's atmosphere.While I can sympathise with those who are questioning whether the mounting global pollution is causing accelerated global warming, there is little doubt about the harmful impact of toxic pollution in general on Earth's atmosphere. While we should take note of the 10 per cent or so of scientists who are sceptical about global warming, surely we must act in response to the majority scientific opinion on this matter. We should accept that global warming is happening, and set out to do something about it, while there may still be a chance to stem a process that could seriously affect thousands in the South Coast area with rising sea levels.In the circumstances, Copenhagen offers a test of world leadership and political will. Mr Rudd should be congratulated for seeking to play a leadership role in the development of the kind of global response that just might head off a global disaster. The plain fact is that if nations were to introduce positive measures before the conference, rather than delay until afterwards, the outcome will be much stronger.Actually the Australian move on carbon trading is quite modest, for we really need to do much more, as Bob Brown repeatedly reminds us. What is important is to make the kind of start that will stimulate international momentum. Turnbull's opponents argue that we should wait and see - not good enough! James Dunn is an author with four decades of experience as a foreign affairs official and with UN agencies.