Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam has urged the Chamber of Minerals and Energy to wake up to the imminent effects of climate change, and stop jeopardising the economic viability of their industry, as well as our future, at a Public Hearing Joint Standing Committee on Treaties into the Kyoto Protocol this morning.

“Its obvious to everyone that the ridiculously low 5 percent emissions target outlined Monday’s white paper will need to be revised. What will the mining industry do when it finds itself unprepared to operate within a carbon constrained global economy?” said Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam.

Greens Leader Bob Brown says Prime Minister Rudd's global commitment to curbing greedy executives' pay contrasts with his repeated blocking of efforts in parliament.

For example, Senator Brown's motion calling on the government to "ensure that, as a minimum, no financial institutions executives' pay will increase as a consequence of government ... guaranteeing deposits' was voted down by Labor on 14 November.

"Where is there any sign of any action to curb the executive largesse?" Senator Brown said.

In Washington overnight, Mr Rudd complained that:

"People around the world are fed up and angry with these outrageous packages paid to financial company executives who've contributed so much to what has gone wrong with the global economy."

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The Australian Greens today commended the Foreign Minister for strengthening sanctions against the Burmese military regime, but warned against Australian companies profiteering.

"The Greens congratulate the Foreign Minister for taking action to increase the pressure and reiterate Australia's call for democracy in Burma," said Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam.

Premier Bartlett's ignorance of the global significance of forest carbon and the economic opportunities that it provides will cost Tasmania dearly in both financial and biodiversity terms, Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne, said today.

Senator Milne has just returned from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Congress in Barcelona where protection of standing forests was seen as a global priority in the climate effort. Investment in the ecosystem and climate services mature forests provide is central to the "New Green Deal" that is to be launched in Europe tomorrow by top global economists and UN leaders.

Premier Bartlett, on the other hand, told The Australian newspaper that "I don't think the logging of old-growth forests is necessarily related to climate change" and called the clear global position that standing forests are more valuable than logged forests "bullshit".

Senator Milne said "Premier Bartlett's ignorance is matched only by his crassness and crudity in dismissing world-leading scientific research on our forest carbon stores.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has written to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asking him to put the Tobin tax on the international agenda for making financial regulation more responsible to global needs.

The Tobin tax - a levy of one basis point (one one hundredth of one per cent) - on international financial deals could raise $100 billion per annum, and, for example, ensure every poverty-stricken child on the planet had clean water, enough food and a school to attend," Senator Brown said.