The Environment Essays - Climate Change Policy, Carbon Finance

The Environment - The Environment The impact of people on their environment can be devastating. This is where the respective role of governments can make decisions that shape environmental policy and responsibilities. These governments can be broken up into four different levels: local, state, federal and international. Air quality and biodiversity are two current issues that can be related to the role of governments. Global warming is also another implication that has a devastating effect on the environment. Current examples include the rise in sea levels, polar meltdowns, the melting of ice sheets and glaciers and human deaths due to disease from the effects of global warming. Firstly the environment can be defined as the natural features of our surroundings such as plant and animal life and their habitats, water, soils and the atmosphere. A local government named Rockdale Municipal Council has implemented certain actions to deal with the quality in that region. They have recognized that the main source of poor air quality originates from air pollution sources such as motor vehicles, industrial premises and aircraft emissions. The solutions to these problems include improvements to Ryde and Botany Bay cycle way, integration of land use and transport planning strategies, production of Air Quality - the Facts booklet for community, investigation of complaints regarding odours and dust, tree planting and preparation of a Local Air Quality Management Plan in 1999. Air quality is a major issue in most states within Australia that affects our greenhouse, to tackle the implications state governments have created policies and responsibilities. For instance Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) is a program that enables mainly state governments to take action on greenhouse. CCP provides these state governments with a strategic framework to diminish greenhouse gas emissions by helping them identify and recognize the emissions of their council and community, set a reduction goal and develop and utilize an action plan to reach that goal. State actions include: capturing the methane from landfill sites and public and non-car transport into urban planning. On a federal or national basis Australia has employed policies to increase the air quality. For example the Commonwealth Government will guarantee that Australia carries its fair-share of the burden in worldwide efforts to combat global air pollution through policy development and implementation. They have also supported the National Greenhouse Strategy (NGS) which began in late 1996. The government will also support the development of a national strategy to observe and manage air toxics. The air toxics strategy will monitor, establish the levels of community exposure to, and manage emissions of selected air toxics. The federal government will even consider the inclusion of air toxics in a future National Environmental Protection Measure. Further measures include the leading of the development of national ambient air quality standards through the National Environmental Protection Council and the assistance of the establishment of a National Pollutant Inventory which will require larg e companies to publicly report their emission of 90 pollutants. Local government Rockdale Municipal Council has introduced responsibilities and policies to reduce the loss of biodiversity. This local government has learned that the cause involves the introduction of species, pollution of land and water, weed invasion and urban encroachment. Their solutions to these problems comprise of the planting of over 3,500 plants and shrubs in Bardwell Valley and Scotts Reserve, bush regeneration and planting in Scarborough Reserve, involvement in Cooks River Foreshores Working Party and preparation of a flora and fauna study in 2000. Policies towards the community include controlling noxious weeds on your property, planting native trees indigenous to the area and applying to the council prior to removing any trees. The Labor Tasmanian Government has created a new Environment Policy on biodiversity that hopes to preserve native plants and animals. The policies commit the government to encourage community involvement in biological diversity programs, proclaim the Tasman National Park, establish a State Biodiversity Committee with community representation to arrange a Tasmanian Biodiversity Strategy, support the development of a State Policy on the protection of remnant native vegetation, examine the possibility of incorporating the Biodiversity Strategy into legislation and seeking the co-operation of local government and the community in including and enforcing biological diversity guidelines in development criteria. The federal government has enabled several