Q&A with Ross Garnaut: ‘we’re not there yet’ on climate policy. Following the repeal of the carbon tax, the Australian government has implemented its Direct Action climate policy, centred on the A$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund. The results of the fund’s first auction were released on April 23. So far, the government has signed contracts for 47 million tonnes of carbon emissions for a total of A$660 million. However, questions remain about the long-term adequacy of the fund and its ability to achieve Australia’s unconditional emissions target of 5% below 2000 levels by 2020, and larger cuts beyond. The Conversation asked Ross Garnaut, Professorial Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne and architect of Australia’s carbon tax, what Australia needs to do to build an adequate climate policy. Garnaut was a keynote speaker at the recent Emissions Reduction Summit held in Melbourne. Read More here
Tag Archives: Emissions
6 May 2015, RTCC: Fossil fuels just pushed CO2 levels to a 3 million-year high: Global concentrations of greenhouse gases surpass “significant milestone”, US climate science agency says, the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere exceeded 400 parts per million in March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported today. That’s the most in 57 years of measurements, a near 50% rise on pre-industrial levels, and probably the highest since the Pliocene Epoch, 2.6-5.3 million years ago. Read More here
April 2015 A Climate Institute Briefing Note: Updates global climate action where the US lays its cards on the table but what of Australia? The Climate Institute states “Countries that formalised their initial post-2020 emission reduction offers over the last month included the United States, the world’s biggest economy. Others ramped up their domestic climate action, with China’s clamp down on coal use among the key headlines…..” Read More: CI Research Briefing Note
12 March 2015 Global Footprint Network: China world’s largest contributor. “China is the world’s largest contributor to annual growth in the demand for ecological resources and services, and has been for the last five years for which data is available, according to Global Footprint Network. The Ecological Footprint of the world – a measure of people’s demand on nature – has begun climbing again after experiencing a 2.1 percent decline in 2009 during the recession, according to Global Footprint Network’s 2015 Edition of the National Footprint Accounts, released today….” Read More here