Managing climate change in Australia

28 FEBRUARY 2011

Assessing the best way forward for the Federal Government to manage the effects of climate change on Australia will be the focus of a workshop to be held this Wednesday 2 March in Canberra.

Meeting co-coordinator, Professors Mark Morrison and Kevin Parton from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Institute for Land, Water and Society, believe that setting a price on carbon is the first step in establishing public policy to mitigate the effects of climate change. [See his latest comments on the proposed carbon tax here.]

“The Federal government could then easily establish a ‘cap-and-trade’ scheme such as the previously planned emissions trading scheme. Alternative policies such as a carbon tax, subsidies on the use of non-carbon based sources of energy, and subsidies on research and development of non-carbon based sources of energy, may also be reviewed in the upcoming meeting,” Professor Parton says.

“To successfully adapt to greater variability in climates, building resilience into the national economy and community is becoming a major policy issue for Australian governments. Alternatives to be considered include improved building design and location, new planning regulations, and re-thinking disaster assistance.

Professor Parton also believes international agreement is needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This is also part of the workshop, which will include such internationally and nationally eminent speakers as:

Economist Adjunct Professor Bjørn Lomborg. Institute Director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and Adjunct Professor at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Professor Lomborg is the author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and the new Smart Solutions to Climate Change. Named as one of the world's 75 most influential people, he suggests a different approach to climate change that moves beyond ‘traditional’ carbon reduction strategies such as taxation to look at changing the economic ‘supply/demand equation’ through innovation.
Architect Michael Green. A founding principal of mgb ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN, Mr Green, from Canada, has designed award-winning buildings, public art, interiors, landscapes and urban environments around the globe. He is passionate about solving global accommodation problems, using appropriate designs with a light carbon footprint that are sympathetic to the location and local materials.
Economist Dr Roderick Duncan. A member of CSU’s Institute for Land, Water and Society and leader of its Ecosystems Services Strategic Research Area, Dr Duncan’s research interests centre on development problems in Third World countries, especially the links between natural resources and development. He has also written on global warming policy and on the use of environmental offsets.
Climate scientist and economist Dr Ben McNeil. A senior research fellow with the University of NSW Climate Change Centre, Dr McNeil is an economist and climate scientist who has recently published his first book, The Clean Industrial Revolution.

Professor Parton contends the issues to be discussed are vital because of the great moral challenge posed by climate change. “They are urgent, because policy action is needed as soon as possible. Economic analysis shows that if the world's policy makers act soon, the eventual cost of avoiding severe climate change will be relatively small.”