SYDNEY—Greens leader Bob Brown has described the outcome of the Copenhagen conference on climate change as a disaster and says it's time for the federal government to start "serious negotiations" with his party in the Senate.
"I think it's a very big setback for the planet and that means all Australians as well," Senator Brown told Sky News on Sunday.
"It (Copenhagen) isn't a deal - it's an agreement that's been noted by the conference but it has no target, no binding mechanism and it really gives no hope ... It has simply left the board vacant when it comes to a commitment by any country on Earth to do anything in particular."
He said the problem was with the "two old dinosaur parties squabbling over how not to do anything".
"It's no more a disaster for Labor than it is for Tony Abbott's Liberals," he said.
"After all, he's gone back to the Howard years: don't do anything until everybody else has acted.
"That's no action at all, and he's talking about looking at regulated alternatives, which he says will have no cost. Well, they all have a cost in one way or another."
Senator Brown called for the government to enter into serious negotiations with the Greens.
He said it should consider appointing Greens' Senator Christine Milne as a special adviser on climate change.
"The news about climate change is continuing to get worse ... we do need to take action, and that requires the government to be seriously engaging with the Greens, to get Australia into the target zone that's going to make us a world leader instead of a spoiler - as we were at Copenhagen."
