The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was released in Brussels last night, giving the most alarming forecast yet about the consequences of climate change for the world.

What we actually need is some significant action from government, industry and the UN, which I believe has been remiss in it's duties given the Kyoto Protocol was some years ago now.

The world’s leading science journals report that glaciers are melting ten times faster than previously thought, that atmospheric greenhouse gases have reached levels not seen for millions of years, and that species are vanishing as a result of climate change. They also report of extreme weather events, long-term droughts, and rising sea levels.

Victoria's hefty increase, caused mainly by emissions from its Latrobe Valley brown coal-fired power stations, went against the Victorian government's policy of cutting greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050, the report said.

Climate Group Australian director Rupert Posner said the state government was not doing enough to reverse greenhouse emissions.

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If current production of carbon from fossil fuels continues unabated, by the end of the century the land and oceans will be less able to take up carbon than they are today, the model indicates.

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Tropical highlands and polar regions may be the first to disappear, and large swaths of the tropics and subtropics will reach even hotter temperatures. The study anticipates large climate changes worldwide.

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While India is also growing fast in importance, it should be absolutely clear that it is the two largest CO2 emitters most of all, my own country, that will need to make the boldest moves, or stand accountable before history for their failure to act.

"Both countries should stop using the other's behaviour as an excuse for stalemate and instead develop an agenda for mutual survival in a shared global environment," Mr Gore said at a lavish ceremony in the Oslo city hall.

He will arrive tomorrow night set for his big Kodak moment on Wednesday when he will formally hand over Australia's documents of ratification to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It will be a packed house, a standing ovation, a picture that will go straight to the pool room.

Climate change negotiators at UN talks in Bali yesterday released the first draft of the key negotiating mandate for a post-Kyoto agreement to be considered by world leaders, including Kevin Rudd, on Wednesday.

The draft document identifies the need for developed countries to reduce emissions by 25 to 40per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, although it does not commit any nation to specific cuts.