Antinuclear

Australia’s options for climate change action

What is ‘real’ action on climate change? SMH , What form would greater climate change action take – and what would it cost?   By Staff reporters

JANUARY 16, 2020  Polls suggest that Australians want to take action on climate change, and business leaders have joined the call for emissions cuts. ….. Pressure is growing on the federal government to take more decisive action.But what form would greater climate change action take – and what would it cost?

What does climate action actually mean?

Climate change action takes two forms: mitigation, which means reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a rate fast enough to prevent massive damage to our environment in the future; and adaptation, which means bracing and preparing for the changes that are happening and which will intensify.

Adapting to climate change is essential and there are many ways to do so, such as beefing up emergency services and strengthening farms and infrastructure against fires, storms and rising sea levels.

But the source of the problem is the rising emissions that are trapping heat in the atmosphere and oceans. In Australia, emissions come from electricity, industry, transport and agriculture as well as other sectors.

If we are serious about tackling climate change, we must reduce emissions faster than we are doing now. That’s the view of the world’s leading scientific bodies as well as the key expert bodies in Australia, including the CSIRO and the Australian Academy of Science. Their advice is clear: Australia needs to be close to carbon neutral by the middle of the century.

It would be nice to be able to flick a switch and change to zero emissions next week. In practice, decarbonising the nation will be a long, complex process.

The Garnaut Review, led by senior economist Ross Garnaut almost a decade ago, is still the most comprehensive assessment of Australia’s options for climate change action. It drew on leading Australian research on bushfire impacts to forecast an increase in bushfire danger by 2020. On our current trajectory, we are on track to see catastrophic fire days increase by 300 per cent by the second half of this century. 

The review outlines various types of policy that can help cut emissions, both “carrots” and “sticks”. There are public subsidies, such as government funding for wind and solar farms; or special tariffs to pay householders with solar panels. Then there are systems for making polluters pay, such as a carbon price implemented through a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme. There are also policies that rely on regulating an industry, such as the now-abandoned National Energy Guarantee policy, under which companies would be required by law to use a mix of different technologies.

Several types of policy can operate at the same time. Australia had a carbon price from 2012 to 2014 before it was repealed after a change of government. Currently, it has some direct subsidies for emissions reduction projects but no mechanism for cutting greenhouse gases at the speed required.

The Garnaut Review found – and other studies, including by the OECD and by the Australian National University, have since agreed – that a carbon price coupled with an emissions trading scheme and a cap on greenhouse gas emissions would be the most effective and efficient way of cutting emissions.

The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has ruled out a “carbon tax” or other action that would raise electricity prices or affect polluting industries. In the wake of the fires, Mr Morrison has flagged “resilience” and “adaptation” as the areas he wants to focus on……..

Australia currently has no mechanism for controlling its greenhouse gas emissions and may not meet its Paris commitments……. https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-is-real-action-on-climate-change-20200115-p53rok.html

February 1, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | Leave a comment

Adaptation to bushfires might not be achievable without stronger action to curb emissions

(Cartoon above, courtesy of Independent Australia and Mark David)

Australia is ‘ground zero’ in climate crisis and must show leadership, top researchers say  https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/29/australia-is-ground-zero-in-climate-crisis-and-must-show-leadership-top-researchers-say Lisa Cox, Wed 29 Jan 2020, Adaptation to bushfires might not be achievable without stronger action to curb emissions, letter warns, Lisa Cox Australia’s current position as “ground zero” for both the impacts of climate change and policy uncertainty presents an opportunity for the country to emerge as a leader in responding to the climate crisis, according to Australian Research Council laureates.

In a letter signed by 80 ARC laureate fellows, some of Australia’s top researchers said claims strong action to cut emissions would be economically destructive have no basis and are not “consistent with Australia’s traditional optimism and ingenuity, nor with historical experience”.

“Reducing emissions is a global challenge that requires collective action,” the letter said.

“But Australia’s current visibility as ground zero for both climate impacts and climate policy uncertainty presents a unique opportunity for us to emerge as a leader on this challenge.”

The ARC laureate fellows are a small group of researchers selected by the ARC as the top researchers across all fields in Australia.

The letter, whose signatories include decorated academics in mathematics, science, economics, and language and culture, said the government’s focus on adapting to changed fire patterns “is not enough”.

It was written as the country’s unprecedented bushfire season continues, with emergency warnings in place on Tuesday for a fire burning in the Namadgi national park near Canberra.

“We welcome government actions to help current victims and improve adaptation to future fires, as well as its acceptance of a role for climate change in the catastrophe,” the letter said.

“But this is not enough, because the greenhouse gas amounts driving warming are still rising: the world is only at the beginning of the climate change phenomenon.”

The bushfire emergency has brought the Coalition government’s climate policies into sharp focus.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, was criticised for his handling of the crisis through Christmas and early January, and for his failure to meet with former emergency chiefs who warned of the coming catastrophe last year.

Morrison said this month that the government’s response to the increasingly visible effects of the climate crisis would be to address “adaptation and resilience” rather than strengthening policies to reduce emissions.

But the letter warns that without stronger action to curb emissions, the impacts of further temperature rises could be such that adaptation is not achievable.

“This dire outlook demands stronger mitigation of carbon emissions,” it said.

“Many argue that actions to achieve this would be economically destructive. This claim has no basis, nor is it consistent with Australia’s traditional optimism and ingenuity, nor with historical experience.”

They wrote that achieving net zero emissions was a large but achievable task, and “far less risky and irresponsible” than allowing continued global heating.

Australia faced international criticism as one of a handful of countries at the United Nations climate conference in Madrid in December that were responsible for thwarting a deal on the rulebook for the Paris climate agreement.

Australia is the only country that plans to use carryover credits from the Kyoto period to meet its targets under the Paris agreement.

January 30, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | 1 Comment