Dawn of A New Era for Papua New Guinea and Australia

Papua New Guinea and Australia have come a long way. There is a lot of history between these two countries and I see this first official visit by the new Australian PM Rudd to Port Moresby this week as a significant boost towards a better working relationship between Port Moresby and Canberra. The front page of the Post Courier Newspaper in Papua New Guinea captivated a light moment between the two Prime Ministers. See below.

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Below is also an article from the Post Courier Newspaper [March 7, 2008]

Somare and Rudd sign greenhouse gas deal

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday signed an agreement with Australian colleague Kevin Rudd to lay the groundwork for the two nations to work towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The agreement would enable the creation of a framework aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in PNG from deforestation and forest degradation, improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities, and promote the protection of Papua New Guinea’s biodiversity.
“If you look at the overall challenge of climate change, the big source of emissions is coal-fired electricity generation around the world; a second big challenge for the overall climate change dynamic is what happens with deforestation and avoided deforestation. How do we best manage that into the future? And it is in this area where countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have such a significant role to play. That’s why in this Papua New Guinea-Australia forest carbon partnership, we’ve outlined a new framework to work together on this, a regular dialogue on how we can advance this agenda within the international forums of the world,” said Mr Rudd, after signing the PNG-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership Agreement with Sir Michael.
As part of the agreement, PNG and Australia will engage in policy dialogue on climate change issues, mainly focusing on how emissions from deforestation and forest degradation can be reduced using provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Mr Rudd said a private carbon market scheme could be created as part of the agreement, which would enable PNG to make revenue from such a scheme.
“On the basis of them (PNG) engaging in programs to reduce deforestation,” he added.
A recently released report on climate change, produced by Mr Rudd’s climate change advisor Professor Ross Garnaut, recommended that Australia signed partnership agreements on greenhouse gas emissions with Indonesia and PNG.
Prof Garnaut said such an agreement, if built around a framework utilising large revenue flows for the sale of emissions permits for development purposes (including cash and development opportunities for village communities currently enjoying cash and services from forestry operations), could be advantageous for PNG.