The Australian
Mon, 3 Dec 07
AUSTRALIA can take an aggressive approach to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions with minimal impact on economic growth, according to new research released to coincide with the start of international negotiations in Bali today. The two-week negotiations under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change are expected to conclude on December 14, aiming for a formal mandate to begin negotiating a new global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which ends in 2012.
The new analysis commissioned by the Climate Institute Australia says Australia can afford to start taking immediate action to halt emissions growth by 2012 and then deliver deep cuts by 2050, as projected economic growth over this time will swamp the higher costs of abatement. The study estimates the cost of three different levels of policy response by Australia over the coming decades. It finds that even the most aggressive leadership option would result in a cut in total income of 3.5 per cent by 2050, while the economy is projected to triple in size over the same period.
Climate Institute Australia chief executive John Connor said Kevin Rudd had repeatedly referred to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates of greenhouse levels of about 450 parts per million to avert the most dangerous impacts of climate change. This would require cuts for developed countries of between 25 and 40 per cent by the end of next decade.
"Now we need to remain focused on doing everything we can at Bali and beyond to avoid dangerous climate change beyond a 2C increase," Mr Connor said yesterday. Australia's first federal climate change minister, senator Penny Wong, will be sworn in today along with other Rudd government ministers.
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