Speaking with EcoGeneration recently, Mr Rae said that Australia has fallen behind, despite numerous opportunities to show leadership on the global stage.
“When Australia introduced the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target scheme [2001] and the Australian Greenhouse Office [1998], we were leading the world. Gradually that was paired back, and now we’ve become the retarding influence.”
After Bali, with the new government ratifying Kyoto, Australia had the chance to be regarded as having seen the light and to catch up, says Mr Rae.
“Instead of that, we’ve now fallen further and further behind. And when the opportunity to participate in the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – the body that will in many ways govern the development of renewable energy, which is the major new investment area in the world – we stood back [and were subsequently one of the last to join in June 2009].”
Article continues below…“What we need is the will, and the will, will come out of a fair and proper public education program of what are the issues, and how can they become overcome.”
Mr Rae will be a keynote speaker at the clean energy industry event of 2010: EcoGen 2010.
A global leader in the renewable energy industry, with experience spanning numerous renewable associations and companies around the world, Mr Rae has a unique vantage point from which to understand Australia’s position within the global clean energy context.
He is Chairman of the International Renewable Energy Alliance, and Vice Chairman of REN21, the global policy network that provides a forum for international leadership on renewable energy. Mr Rae was a Senator for 18 years, from 1968 – 1986, and was the Chairman of Hydro Tasmania from 1993 – 2004.
