Vote information - the question we posed
Between September 14 and 21, 2009, tens of thousands of young Australians voted for the world they want to inherit in Youth Decide ’09.
The Youth Decide voting period has now closed.
Once we’ve crunched the numbers, the vote results will be shared with Australia’s government leaders and then taken to the United Nations during Climate Week in New York in September and to Copenhagen in December. We will post the results on our website on Tuesday, September 22.
The more greenhouse gases we put into the atmosphere, the worse climate change will get.
Globally we need to set a limit on how much greenhouse gas emissions we are going to put into the atmosphere.
This limit will be decided when countries around the world come together this December at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Countries will set targets for how much they will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. Australia will have to decide our target as well.
The targets that are chosen will determine the kind of world we will inherit.
Below there are three worlds. Each world represents a world you could inherit based on the target that Australia sets as part of a global limit on greenhouse gases.
The worlds are based on research conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international body of climate scientists, as well as modelling commissioned by the Australian and UK Governments. Dave Griggs, CEO of Climate Works Australia, has been working with the Youth Decide team to develop and verify the voting question so that it accurately reflects the choice the world now faces. Read more about Dave here
This is the question we posed...
Click on each of the three worlds above to see the full impact of each vote
The official voting period has now closed.
Thanks to everyone who has taken this chance to have your say about the world we’re going to inherit.
The above scenarios are based on research conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the international body of the world’s leading climate scientists, as well as modelling commissioned by the Australian and UK Governments.
Youth Decide has worked with leading Australian Climate Scientists to best summarise each likely scenario for the various emission reduction targets governments are proposing.
About Dave Griggs
Youth Decide has worked with Professor David Griggs to develop the worlds you can vote for.
In September 2007, Dave moved to Australia to become Director of the Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI) which aims to deliver solutions to key sustainability challenges. In November 2008, he also became CEO of the newly created organisation ClimateWorks Australia (CWA), which focuses on action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Previous positions he has held include UK Met Office Deputy Chief Scientist and Director of the Hadley Centre for Climate Change, and Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientific assessment unit.
Dave is currently the vice-chair of the World Climate Research Programme and is a member of the Victorian Ministerial Reference Council on Climate Change Adaptation, the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors and the Climate Institute Strategic Council. Dave was awarded the Vilho Vaisala award (World Meteorological Organization) in 1992.