Australia's Climate Change Speech to the Finance Ministers' meeting in Bali

Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan has given a speech at the Finance Ministers meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali .

He outlined Australia's commitments including:

• reduce Australian emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

• the introduction of a broad-based emissions trading system by 2010.

• introduce a 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target for Australia to reach by 2020.

• encourage the research and development of new clean energy technologies, through a number of important domestic initiatives including:

• A $500 million Renewable Energy Fund — to further develop, commercialise and deploy renewable energy in Australia; and
• A $500 million Clean Coal Fund to fund the deployment of clean coal technologies.

• establish a Clean Business Fund to assist Australian firms in improving the energy efficiency of their operations and to promote the development of technologies that will save energy and water.

The goal of the conference is to agree on a roadmap for a future international agreement on enhanced global action to fight climate change in the period after 2012, the year the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires.