Ignoring the threat of climate change would send the world into an economic tailspin far greater than that of the global financial meltdown, the Greens warned yesterday .
The warning came as both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan failed to clarify if the Government would stick to its 2010 timetable for an emissions trading scheme.
Just a week ago Climate Change Minister Penny Wong indicated there was no reason to delay the start of a trading scheme because of the current international turmoil.
But yesterday Mr Swan was giving no such guarantees.
He said the Government was planning to review all spending commitments amid the global financial turmoil which has seen sharemarkets tank, growth predictions slashed and credit dry up.
However, he would not say whether the scheme could fall victim to the review. ''I'm not going to speculate about that,'' he said. And Mr Rudd would only say last night, ''Our ambition remains as I described it before.''
Greens leader Bob Brown warned yesterday of significant consequences if the emissions trading scheme was delayed.
''The [Government's] shakiness will frighten people all over the country because Australians are wise to the fact you cannot put climate change on the sideboard while you're dealing with an economic crisis,'' Senator Brown said.
''Climate change won't wait, and climate change threatens even worse economic ramifications for this country down the line even worse employment prospects, even greater dispossession of people. ''
A trading scheme delayed even one year could have significant consequences because climate change was worsening as more pollutants were being released into the atmosphere, he said.
''We can stop that, stop it in its tracks. But you can't stop it by putting it off a year and then another year until the next government ... if it's not looked to, it will create a financial crisis that will make the current one look small indeed.'' Rallying a crowd of hundreds of supporters of national independent political organisation GetUp at Parliament House, he said Australia was heading for a ''global, economic, social and ecological crisis that humanity has never faced before''.
''I would say to Kevin Rudd, 'I think you'll find more ecological wisdom in our average primary school than you'll find around your cabinet table','' he said.
''Those economies that go green will be the ones that lead the world in this century.''
GetUp members greeted the arrival of the organisation's solar, wind, lemon and ''people powered'' torch that had travelled more than 100,000km nationwide over nine weeks.
Queensland cattle farmer Lindsey Tidmarsh, 60, ran 80 of those kilometres, partly in protest at the proposed damming of the Mary River.
He said, ''Climate change is going to effect everyone in the future. ''We've got to do something now it's going to be too late in the future.'' As he carried the torch to centre stage, hundreds of activists applauded, many of them wearing Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull masks and orange superhero capes because GetUp is calling for bi-partisan and ''heroic'' action from political leaders. Labor went into the last election promising to introduce an emissions trading scheme by 2010, when the next federal election is due. with AAP