Moreland Energy Foundation

So, after all the waiting, we now have the carbon price package laid out before us. In short, MEFL believes that the policy is an excellent start to reducing Australia's emissions, and to transforming Australia's economy to take advantage of clean energy opportunities. See our media release for our full response.

Over the next few weeks, we will post updates on this blog, with detailed analysis of each element of the package. But for starters, here's a quick rundown of the basics.

MEFL Media Release 12 July 2011

Businesses and households in Moreland have already been taking steps to save energy and cut costs, and are well prepared to respond to the introduction of the carbon price from July next year.

For over ten years, the Moreland Energy Foundation Limited (MEFL) has been working to help households and businesses cut energy costs and access renewable energy technologies. Over 3,000 households, businesses and community organisations are now saving energy through the Moreland Energy Foundation’s sustainable energy programs.

Climate action in Australia depends on Federal MPs, who will be watching carefully over the next few months to see where public opinion is heading.

If you're one of the majority of Australians who support climate action, contact your Federal Member of Parliament and/or the members of the Multi-party Committee on Climate Change (MPCCC) to tell them you support putting a price on carbon pollution.

Though most details of the Gillard Government's proposed carbon pricing policy are yet to be decided, public debate is well and truly under way. Activist group Getup is planning a demonstration this Saturday outside Julia Gillard's offices at Treasury Gardens in Melbourne, to show support for climate action and a clean energy future (see details here).

With all the political posturing on this issue, it is hard to get a clear idea of the actual issues. Here's our 30 second run down of the key points.

The most worrying aspect of Julia Gillard's announcement last week of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in funding cuts for climate change policies and programs is not the loss of the programs themselves. Greg Combet has since said that the programs targeted for cuts are ineffective. Even if this is true, it would not justify removing funding from climate change initiatives completely. Instead, the funding should be reallocated to programs that are effective.

Apart from the clear paradox of taking money away from climate change programs to fund recovery from extreme weather events of the very kind that are predicted to increase in frequency with climate change, our worry is that these cuts may reveal an attitude within the Gillard Government that carbon pricing is the silver bullet, and complementary climate change policies are unnecessary.

As the clean-up in Queensland begins, the severe economic impact of these floods is becoming clear.  One economist has estimated that the cost could be as much as $13 billion, around 1% of Australia's gross domestic product (GDP).

The economic impact of these floods will include the slowing or suspending of mining operations which has global implications and affects the price of commodities such as coal and the production of steel, the extreme destruction of infrastructure such as roads, railways and buildings including many homes that will need to be repaired, ruined agricultural operations which will have knock-on effects for the rest of Australia and globally in terms of higher food prices and prices of agricultural products such as cotton, and high levels of cancellations for tourism operators.  Further information on the cost of the Queensland floods can be found in these articles from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun.  See also this incredible interactive before-and-after map on the ABC website to get a good indication of the impact of these floods around Queensland.

As we have previously blogged, climate predictions forecast more frequent, more severe and more destructive extreme weather events as the globe heats up.  In Victoria, we have had recent experience with extreme drought and bushfires, and many Victorian towns are now facing floods more damaging than the serious flooding experienced last September.  Analysis by Melbourne Water and others indicates that Melbourne suburbs are likely to suffer from more freqent flooding (see article in The Age).  Now, British economist Nicholas Stern has released an updated economic analysis of the costs of addressing climate change versus the cost of doing nothing.  The study shows that unhampered climate change would result in a massive 20% reduction in world economic growth, while the cost of responding to climate change is getting more expensive by the day (see this article for more detail).

What does this mean for governments and communities around the world?  Apart from the terrible human tragedy of extreme weather events and climate change, the economic costs of climate inaction make a clear case for urgent action to reduce global emissions - the costs of doing so, which Mr Stern estimated at around 1% of global GDP, are far less than the costs of doing nothing.

Our thoughts this week are with the people affected by the devastating floods in Queensland.  Donations can be made via the Australian Red Cross website and will assist by helping people get through this disaster, and clean up and rebuild once the water subsides.

After a year of extraordinary disasters in Australia and around the world, including these floods, last year's bushfires in Victoria, record-breaking heat waves and bushfires in Russia and severe wintry weather in Europe to name a few, many people are questioning the link between extreme weather events and climate change.

It is important to remember is that climate change is unlikely to be the sole cause of extreme weather events.  Such events have always been a feature of our natural environment, particularly in Australia.  We have always had floods, droughts, heat waves and bushfires, although sometimes the most extreme events occur many years or decades apart and so we feel like we're suffering through something new and terrible.  However, climate change predictions do forecast that climate change will make extreme weather events more frequent, more severe and more damaging.

A number of good summaries of the connections between climate change and extreme flooding can be found on the websites of the Climate Action Centre and the Australian Conservation Foundation (see also ACF's fact sheet).

With some degree of climate change now unavoidable, the Queensland floods demonstrate the urgency of integrating climate change projections into our urban planning and building design processes so we are well prepared to respond to more frequent and severe weather in the future.

One step back

Last year presented some set backs in international climate policy.  The United States mid-term elections delivered a Republican majority in Congress opposed to the implementation of a comprehensive climate change response, ending the Obama administration's hopes of establishing an emissions trading scheme any time soon.  Japan announced that it would delay its scheme indefinitely.

Of course, there was more huffing and puffing from people and organisations denying the scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and is attributable to human activity, but it was reassuring to see more accessible information released explaining the science (see, for example this Climate Change FAQ by the Australian Academy of Science).

Two steps forward

However, there is plenty to celebrate.  The climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico were widely seen as a step in the right direction (see previous blog post), and while some tricky issues remain unresolved, there is now hope for the next round of talks this year in Durban, South Africa.  In the face of the hostile Republican Congress, Barack Obama's Government has reiterated its determination to reduce US emissions, and is pushing ahead with plans to regulate emissions via the Environmental Protection Agency.  Meanwhile, China, the world's second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has continued to provide strong support for renewable energy in its 12th five year plan.  And back home, despite repeated calls from the Federal Opposition for plans to price carbon to be scrapped, the Gillard Government continues to work towards putting a price on carbon this year.

Looking ahead to Durban

The crucial Durban climate talks will be held in December this year, and countries will discuss difficult but key issues such as the legal form of a global agreement, financing emissions reductions and extending the Kyoto Agreement.

The climate change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico concluded just over a week ago, and commentators have expressed cautious optimism about the outcome.  Of course, expectations were at an extreme low heading into this latest round of negotiations, with participants playing down the prospects of a successful result in a bid to avoid a repeat of the disastrous dashing of hopes at Copenhagen last year.

So what actually happened, what was decided, and are we back on track?

The climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, are in progress and despite predictions that 2010 will be the hottest year on record, and the increasing likelihood that we are heading for a very unpleasant climate scenario indeed, hopes that the world will reach a global deal are low.  What can the world expect from Cancun?