WA: Greenpeace protest outside forum venue

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2000
WA: Greenpeace protest outside forum venue

PERTH, April 17 AAP - About 20 Greenpeace activists protested today against the Australian
government's push for tree-planting as a solution to climate change.

The federal government hoped to garner support for "carbon sinks" when environment
ministers from about 30 countries gathered for a ministerial forum in Perth tomorrow,
Greenpeace spokesman Shane Rattenbury said.

Mr Rattenbury said although tree-planting was environmentally beneficial, it was not
a solution for global warming.

"The truth is that carbon sinks in the form of tree-planting is at best a temporary
way to capture small amounts of carbon dioxide," he said.

"They could undermine real efforts to slow global warming."

He said phasing out fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy was the only solution.

Mr Rattenbury said the government had refused to allow Greenpeace or any other group
access to the meeting as observers.

"The decision to lock Greenpeace out of a meeting like this is unprecedented and highly
suspicious," he said.

"Australia's real agenda is to widen loopholes in the Kyoto Protocol so it can increase
emissions from fossil fuels."

AAP alm/sd/pjs

KEYWORD: GREENHOUSE SINKS

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