On World Environment Day, we're racing against climate change

Sport and climate.

For many Australians, these are at the core of our identity.

Our stadiums are almost places of worship and our beaches hallowed ground.

Our world champions are a source of great patriotic pride for community, business and government. And our climate gives us the character to be champions - we love our sunburnt country but it makes us work hard to survive.

In 1976, Australia all but went into mourning when our medal tally at the Montreal Olympic Games plummeted to only one silver and four bronze medals - one of our worst ever results.

Australians demanded action and our leaders stepped up to the challenge.

The Fraser government took stock and came up with a comprehensive plan which included the formation of the Australian Institute of Sport, now internationally acknowledged as a model for elite athlete development.

The plan worked! Our medal tally grew until, at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Australia rejoiced in a world-class 16 gold, 25 silver and 17 bronze medals.

If we, as a nation, can put in place an action plan that leads to such success and pride for sport, why can we not do the same for climate change - an issue that so strongly effects our lives, our economy, our environment and our health?

According to world business leaders at the Davos Forum, global climate change - caused by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas - is the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. And Australia is among the worst greenhouse-gas polluters in the world, even worse per person than the Americans!

In Australia, we will see climate change in more frequent and intense droughts and bushfires, rising sea levels and coral bleaching, endangered wildlife and agricultural and human health impacts.

Scientists tell us that climate change made the recent drought worse, bringing its impact very close to home. You'd think that would be enough to drive a burst of action like that after the Montreal Olympics! And, sure enough, recent polling shows that Australians want, and are prepared to pay for, action to tackle climate change.

The Federal government is saying all the right things, acknowledging the threat and the need for action. But the action itself is still far too small to get us safely across the finish line.

In 1976, the government of the day showed the political will to tackle the problem they were faced with. Today, we need the Howard government to show similar commitment.

We must join the global effort to beat climate change and ratify the international treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, which Australia helped to design. And we must set out a national strategy to wean ourselves of our lazy reliance on polluting fossil fuels and replace them with clean energy sources like wind and sun.

Enough sun falls on our vast nation in a single hour to supply our energy needs for an entire year! Yet we still get 90 per cent of our energy from fossil fuels and less than 1 per cent from wind, solar or bio-energy sources.

Prime Minister Howard talks the talk: "The Commonwealth is committed to the development of renewable energy sources and the increased uptake of energy efficiency measures in Australia."

He has the opportunity to walk the walk this year with the review of his government's mandatory renewable energy target. The current 2 per cent target is too low to guarantee a truly gold medal-winning performance. But if it were raised to 10 per cent, it would help develop a world-class clean, renewable energy industry and put us on a winning track away from those dirty fossil fuels.

A 10 per cent renewable energy target would create more than 14,000 new jobs, boost regional development and encourage Australian ingenuity and initiative. It would also send out a positive message to the community and the world that Australia is serious about our climate reputation.

Our international sporting shame of 1976 was beaten with swift and decisive federal government action. Twenty-five years later, Australia is a world sporting leader because we decided to become a world leader! Because our government decided to make the best of our natural talents. Because Australians go into every competition intent on exceeding their personal bests.

We can and must do the same for climate change by adopting an effective and comprehensive plan for renewable energy.

Winning the race against climate change - that's the challenge John Howard must set for Australia this World Environment Day.