Climate policy
Climate change is having an increasing and significant impact on our lives. With the community urging action on climate change, it is time Australia – as one of the highest per capita emitters of greenhouse pollution and likely to be one of the most severely affected developed countries – steps up to lead the way.
After decades of shuffling and debate, climate change, or global warming, is now recognised as the very real result of human-induced activity.
We are living through a period of significant environmental change. This change is causing our weather patterns to shift, resulting in the increased incidents of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, extreme storms and markedly less reliable rainfall.
The Stern Review on Climate Change was released by the British government in 2006. Based on scientific evidence and written by Sir Nicholas Stern, the report was a landmark study into the consequences of climate change.
This was certainly not the first review on climate change, but came at a time when debate was raging and scepticism on the topic was still abound. Even now, this is still perhaps the most widely known and discussed report of its kind.
The 700-page document urged immediate global action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. It predicted the disastrous consequences of climate change on the world economy, as well as the threat to the basic elements of life for people around the world; access to water, food production, health and environment.
The report called for a global response, urging for emissions trading schemes, investment into low carbon technologies, and drastic action from world governments, including Australia.
Shortly after its release Sir Nicholas Stern appealed to Australia to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2020, something former Prime Minister John Howard rejected on the basis it would cause thousands of job losses in the coal industry.
The Stern report also acted as the catalyst for then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to seek our own version of the report, the Garnaut Review in 2008.
Climate change is having an increasing and significant impact on our lives. Australia is already suffering from more severe weather events such as bushfires, drought and heatwaves, and will feel the humanitarian repercussions of more frequent extreme weather events around the world, such as the recent floods in Pakistan. With the community urging action on climate change, it is time Australia – as one of the highest per capita emitters of greenhouse pollution and likely to be one of the most severely affected developed countries – steps up to lead the way.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require fundamental changes to our primary industries and a concerted effort by individuals, businesses and communities. A variety of climate change policies are in place in Victoria and across Australia, but what is required is a clear, certain and comprehensive strategy for transforming our economy that integrates national, State and local measures. A national price on carbon is a key mechanism, but must be accompanied by targeted complementary measures at national, state and local levels.
While MEFL's core work continues to relate to community-level energy efficiency, decentralised energy, sustainable urban development and community engagement, we advocate for an overarching policy framework that provides individuals, businesses, industry and communities with the certainty required to enable a proper response to the challenges posed by climate change.
Policy opportunities
- Rationalise the proliferation of State climate policy initiatives and provide a clear roadmap for achieving State emissions reduction targets that individuals, businesses and communities can rely on, with clearly identified steps and timeframes for completion.
- Introduce binding measures to ensure that climate change impacts are considered in all significant Government decisions.
MEFL frequently makes submissions to governmnent authorities on climate policy issues. You can download our submissions from our online library.
