Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 19/5/2010 Page: 7
BIG CUTS to carbon emissions and heavy investment in green technologies will create 3.7 million jobs across Australia by 2030, economic modelling commissioned for unions and green groups shows. The ACTU and Australian Conservation Foundation will today launch the modelling project, which has been six months in the works, in an effort to show serious efforts to tackle climate change will create jobs even in areas dominated by the mining and electricity industries.
The modelling breaks Australia into 65 regions and suggests that just one - far-western NSW - will lose jobs if Australia adopts a 25% emissions reduction target by 2020, sets up an emissions trading scheme and makes significant investment in green technologies and energy efficiency. Other areas across Australia, including those dominated by coal mining and energy industries like Gladstone and Rockhampton in Queensland and the Hunter Valley in NSW, will see job growth in the region.
The report finds that overall jobs will increase by 36% across Australia in 20 years. "The report shows regional areas, even those which produce coal and generate electricity, will have more jobs if we take strong action to cut pollution, but only if we act now," ACTU president Sharan Burrow said. Along with an emissions trading scheme and a 25% emissions cut, the modelling assumes the Australian government will invest directly in targeted regional industry planning, electric cars, public transport and reducing household emissions, among others.
The programs assumed under the modelling would require an investment of on average 2.5% of GDP over the next 20 years. The report finds that if investment is made households will be 10% better off by 2030, and GDP growth would average 3.2% to 2030. The modelling was conducted by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research. It does not model jobs growth with no climate policies because it says that scenario is unlikely given the global push to decarbonise economies. The institute's Ian Manning told the Herald that the modelling also reinforces the position of the International Energy Agency that "procrastination" on investment in a low-carbon economy will increase costs and hurt job growth.
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