ACTION PLAN ON POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Australia’s economy is currently too dependent on industries and technologies that cause pollution. The pollution intensity of the Australian economy is, for example, one and half times greater than the average of other advanced OECD countries.
The consequences of Australia’s dependence on pollution are not limited to climate change.
In 2003, more than 3,000 people prematurely lost their lives as a result of air pollution in Australian cities and towns.1 Many more suffer debilitating illness, sometimes chronic, with serious consequences for families, communities and productivity.
Pollution is being absorbed into the oceans and, as a result, turning the seas more acidic which in turn threatens the world’s fishing industries and food supplies for many millions of people.2
The build-up of carbon dioxide in the air is affecting the nutritional quality of world staple crops like wheat; reducing protein content and raising the level of some poisons,3 and making droughts in Australia more frequent and more intense.4
In the United States the Supreme Court recently found that greenhouse gases are air pollutants that should be covered by the USA Clean Air Act because they endanger public health or welfare.5
Australia needs a plan to end our dependence on pollution and fast track a shift to a clean energy and low pollution economy.
A central element of any credible plan for Australia today and into the future will be to reduce damaging pollution, to make clean energy sources cheaper and join the world’s other major economies in taking responsibility for our role in climate change.
In 2007 in advance of the last Federal Election, The Climate Institute outlined an ambitious, flexible and cost-effective policy pathway to advance Australia’s national interests in addressing climate change.6 Since then the nation has seen a change of government, two major reviews of the economics of pollution policy,7 extensive debate around policies to limit pollution through the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme8 and a major gathering of world leaders in Copenhagen which delivered a politically binding framework agreement to avoid dangerous climate change.9
At a global level there are now more policies and measures in place to limit pollution and make clean energy cheaper than ever before. The global trend in policy action and investment accelerated in the lead up to and following Copenhagen, particularly in developing countries. Overall, between October 2009 and February 2010, 154 new policy announcements were made globally.10
The growing number of real and implicit pollution limits is driving a global shift to clean energy. A recent Worldwatch Institute report highlighted that in 200811:
- Investment in new renewable power capacity exceeded that for coal, oil and gas technologies by an estimated US$30 billion;
- Developing countries accounted for a growing share of global clean energy investments, with China alone responsible for just over 10 percent (US$15.6 billion) of the 2008 total; and
- For the first time, both the United States and the European Union installed more power capacity from renewable technologies than from all fossil fuels and nuclear combined.
A report for Westpac and The Climate Institute by Bloomberg New Energy Finance tells a similar story: Despite the recent economic downturn and on the back of clean energy measures in national stimulus packages, global investment will reach US$154 billion in 2010.12
1S. Begg, et al., The burden of disease and injury in Australia in 2003, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (Canberra, May 2007).
2S. Doney, et al. “Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem”, Annual Review of Marine Science 1 (2009): 169- 192.
3A. Bloom, et al. “Carbon Dioxide Enrichment Inhibits Nitrate Assimilation in Wheat and Arabidopsis.” Science 328, no. 5980 (May 2010): 899 – 903; P. Högy, et al. “Effects of elevated CO2 on grain yield and quality of wheat: results from a 3-year free-air CO2 enrichment experiment.” Plant Biology 11, no. s1 (July 2009): 60-69.; S.P. Long, et al. “Food for Thought: Lower-Than-Expected Crop Yield Stimulation with Rising CO2 Concentrations." Science 312, no. 5782 (June 2006): 1918 – 1921.
4K. Hennessy, et al. An assessment of the impact of climate change on the nature and frequency of exceptional climatic events. Bureau of Meteorology/CSIRO. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. (2008) http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change (accessed 29/06/10)
5 US EPA. Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. (2010) http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html (accessed 14/07/10)
6 The Climate Institute. Reverse Rising Greenhouse Pollution. The Climate Institute. (Sydney, September 2007) http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/reports/ci044_rrgp_brief_v3.1.pdf (accessed 14/07/10); The Climate Institute. International Leadership. The Climate Institute. (Sydney, September 2007) http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/reports/ci045_il_brief_v3.pdf (accessed 14/07/10); and The Climate Institute. Switch to Clean Energy. The Climate Institute. (Sydney, September 2007) http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/reports/ci046_sce_brief_v3.1.pdf (accessed 14/07/10)
7 R. Garnaut. The Garnaut Climate Change Review. Final Report. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2009); and Australian Government. Australia's Low Pollution Future: The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation. The Treasury. (2008) http://www.treasury.gov.au/lowpollutionfuture/ (accessed 14/07/10)
8 Australian Government. Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Australia’s Low Pollution Future. White Paper Vol. 1 and 2. Australian Government. (2008) http://www.climatechange.gov.au/publications/cprs/white-paper/cprs- whitepaper.aspx (accessed 14/07/10)
9 E. Jackson & W. McGoldrick. Global Climate Policy Post-Copenhagen: Progress and Prospects. Discussion Paper. The Climate Institute. (Sydney, 2010) http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/globalclimatepolicy.pdf
10 Deutsche Bank. Investing in Climate Change 2010, A Strategic Asset Allocation Perspective, Deutsche Bank Group. (New York, 2010).
11 J. Sawin & W. Moomaw. Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030. The Worldwatch Institute. (Washingon DC, 2010)
12 Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Renewable energy investment opportunities and abatement in Australia. Report commissioned by The Climate Institute and Westpac. Bloomberg New Energy Finance. (2010) http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/images/reports/renewableenergyinvestment.pdf (accessed 14/07/10)
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