Ross Garnaut

Climate Change

The Garnaut Climate Change Review was a study by Professor Ross Garnaut, commissioned by the Opposition Leader at the time, Kevin Rudd, and by the Australian State and Territory Governments on 30 April 2007. After his election on 24 November 2007, Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd has confirmed the participation of the Commonwealth Government in the Review.

The Review examined the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy, and recommended medium to long-term policies and policy frameworks to improve the prospects for sustainable prosperity. A number of forums were held around Australia to engage the public on various issues relating to the Review. The Secretariat to support the Review was based in the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. The interim report of the Garnaut Review was released on 21 February 2008 and the draft report of the Garnaut Review was released on 04 July 2008. The final report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review was delivered on 30 September 2008.

The Final Report recommended that it was in Australia's national interest to seek an international agreement for holding carbon dioxide equivalent concentrations at 450 parts per million (ppm) or lower, with Australia offering in advance to play its full proportionate part in such an agreement. He further recommended that, should all negotiations collapse at the Copenhagen summit, Australia should still reduce its emissions by 5% by 2020 on 2000 levels.

The Review recommended that an Emissions Trading Scheme, with emissions permits being allocated by auction, should be the centrepiece of Australia's policies to implement emissions reductions targets. The Emissions Trading Scheme should be supported by major public funding for innovation in low emissions technologies, funded from the permit auction revenues. The Final Report proposed a principled formula for assistance to trade-exposed, emissions-intensive industries, within which assistance would be phased out automatically as other countries introduced emissions pricing.

Professor Garnaut said that the overall cost to the Australian economy of tackling climate change under both the 450ppm and 550ppm scenarios was manageable and in the order of 0.1-0.2 per cent of annual economic growth to 2020.

The Garnaut Climate Change Review estimated mitigation costs for 450ppm at almost a percentage point more than 550pmm mitigation of the present value of Gross National Product through the 21st century. The report stated that stronger mitigation is justified by insurance value and non-market value benefits in the 21st century and much larger benefits beyond, and that the costs of action are less than the costs of inaction.

All papers (including transcripts of Garnaut Climate Change Review public events and the entire Final Report) produced as part of the Garnaut Climate Change Review are available online at: www.garnautreview.org.au.

Corrigenda 14 October 2008

Climate Change related Lectures, Articles and Speeches

Innovation and Climate Change Mitigation After a Delayed Start -Presentation at Carbon Capture and Storage Under the Spotlight, C02CRC Public Lecture, The University of Melbourne, 22 July 2010

China as a Great Power: Some Implications for Australia - Address to Australia China Business Council (Victoria Division) Melbourne, 13 May 2010 (See pages 8-10 for reference to recent discussion of China's climate change policy)

Link to video and audio of Transforming Data into Policy: What can we learn from climate change policy making in Australia so far? Forum at University of Melbourne 30 March 2010. This forum looked at how well our public policy making processes have served Australia's national interests in developing its response to climate change, including the development of support policies for trade exposed industries and for new technologies. It also considered how well we have used and communicated quantitative data to help guide and inform the policy debate. Forum moderator: Michael Gawenda. Other panelists included: The Hon Greg Combet AM, MP (Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change), Paul Kelly (Editor-at-large of The Australian), Rod Sims (Director, Port Jackson Partners Limited)

Climate Change and the Energy Sector - Energy Futures Seminar: The Future of Carbon Trading in Australia, Energy Research Institute, Melbourne 17 February 2010

Global Warming After The Obama Accord - Keynote Address to the Annual Conference of Supreme and Federal Court Judges - Canberra 25 January 2010

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Opinion piece on COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen - 22 December 2009

International Agreement on Climate Change Mitigation After The Great Crash of 2008 - Seventh Annual Whitman Lecture, Peterson Institute for International Economics - Washington DC 1 December 2009

Climate Change: The Public Interest and Private Interests in Australian Policy - 2009 Annual Hawke Lecture - Adelaide 4 November 2009

Climate Change from the Perspective of the Torres Strait 2009 Mabo Lecture - Townsville 7 October 2009

Video recording of the 2009 Mabo Lecture - Townsville 7 October 2009

The Policy Framework for Transition to a Low Carbon World Economy - Tokyo 3 October 2009

Lateline Transcript: China Discusses China's Take on Climate Change - 28 September 2009

China and the Transition to a Low-Carbon National Economy - Beijing 25 September 2009

One Year After the Garnaut Climate Change Review:

Essay - ANU 14 September 2009