Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has welcomed Professor Ross Garnaut's support for the Greens proposal for an interim carbon tax until the nation finalises its carbon emissions reduction strategy.

Professor Garnaut called the proposal ‘another politically practical way forward'.

Senator Brown and Greens climate spokesperson Senator Christine Milne wrote to Prime Minister Rudd last week flagging the $23 per tonne carbon tax, to begin this July and apply only to the 1000 worst polluters in Australia.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says that, after the Copenhagen collapse, next year's federal election will be a referendum on global warming.

"The 2010 poll is shaping up as a vote for or against Australia taking a lead in fixing global warming below 1.5 degrees. That means a 2020 target of reducing the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 1990 levels and, in doing so, taking action for the rest of this threatened world to follow," Senator Brown said.

The Greens say there will be wide spread disruption to the lives of Australians in coastal areas due to climate change.

Speaking at the campaign launch of Wendy Heatley, the Greens candidate for Tasmania's state Upper House seat of Pembroke, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said:

" The Rudd Government believes that 600, 000 to 700, 000 businesses and houses hugging the south east coast of Australia could be effected by rising sea levels this century."

Prime Minister Rudd must firmly commit Australia to limiting global warming to no more than 2°C and then lift his weak emissions reduction targets to meet that goal, Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said today.

Senator Brown said Mr Rudd's 5-25% emissions reduction targets contradict the global 2°C goal and undermine the chances of achieving a global agreement to meet that goal, let alone a more ambitious one.

"Mr Rudd and Minister Wong need to be direct with the Australian community about whether they are committed to a global 2°C goal," Senator Brown said.

Financial assistance to developing countries to reduce emissions will be essential to any climate treaty but Gordon Brown's proposed US$100 billion fund falls way short of what's needed, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"Kevin Rudd's 5% target will undermine efforts to reach a strong global agreement at Copenhagen," Senator Brown said.

Prime Minister Rudd's failure-in-waiting approach to climate change will be on global show this week, according to the Australian Greens.

Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said Mr Rudd's 5% target fails the Bali Road Map target of 25-40% reductions in greenhouse gases over 1990 levels by 2020.

"Mr Rudd is handing over $16 billion to old polluters to help them keep polluting, while failing to invest near enough in fostering green alternatives" Senator Brown said.

The call by scientist Tim Flannery for the Australian Greens to support the Rudd government's 4% emissions trading scheme legislation and ‘get it through' lacked maths and logic, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"Professor Flannery should respect our politics as much as we respect his science," Senator Brown said today.

"He has invented a new Senate maths which makes 32 plus 5 equal 39. That is, he calculates 32 Labor plus 5 Greens equals a Senate majority, but it doesn't. You also need Senators Xenophon and Fielding and I wish him luck with the latter.