Deep GHG Cuts by Australia Would Need Swift Policy Change
2007-12-6
The Australian delegation at the UN climate talks in Bali has indicated Australia could back emission cuts for developed countries of between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020. But such cuts would require swift and wide-ranging policy change, say experts.
Ben Pearson, Centre for International Economics:
For the first few days of this conference, the Government was not prepared to take a position on. If they do join other developed countries in saying that they will agree to these targets, explicitly, then we're really going to see these talks have added momentum.
Unfortunately, we often see a big disconnect between what governments are prepared to agree at conferences like [Bali] and what then actually happens back home, and that's the disconnect that we need to bridge.
Frank Jotzo, Australian National University:
We've had indications of an aspirational goal for 2050 before, but it's much more difficult to come up with a number for 2020, because that really implies thinking about what you might actually have to do and what the economic implications might be. The greenhouse gases in an economy are really a bit like an oil tanker. You can certainly turn them around in the longer term, but it's quite difficult to get drastic shifts in the short-term. [It's not impossible] but would require some significant action, and I that's where the Government can show their commitment.
While Australia works out whether it could meet any short-term goals it sets domestically, we shouldn't lose sight of the global picture. Even if we were to cut emissions in developed countries by some measure, we have intense and fast growth in emissions in developing countries. A true solution to the climate problem will involve those countries as well, but we can't realistically expect them to go first, or to even pay for all of the costs involved in that. So there will have to be a strong element of international cooperation and partnership.
Mark Diesendorf, University of New South Wales:
It would need some immediate action in a number of areas. The key areas for reducing emissions in the short-term are using energy more efficiently, and we have huge potential, huge, cost-effective potential for doing that, but we are faced with market failures. So we need some government regulations and standards to make far more energy efficient our buildings, our electrical appliances, our equipment, our industrial processes.
We would need fairly rapid action on that, and that would have to involve both the states and the Commonwealth. And the other important prong is a more rapid development of renewable energy.
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Source: Aust Backs 2020 Target at Bali Climate Conference. Barbara Miller. World Today. ABC. 2007.12.6