Beyond The Spin: Climate change

ANU and 666 Canberra
 

666 ABC Canberra and the Australian National University present Beyond the Spin, a federal election series on the issues that matter. The climate change panel included: Professor Will Steffen, Executive Director of the ANU Climate Change Institute. Professor Warwick McKibbin, Director of the ANU Research School of Economics. Dr Frank Jotzo, Economist at the ANU Crawford School and deputy director at the ANU Climate Change Institute. Dr Liz Hanna, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.  Bernard Keane, Canberra correspondent for Crikey. Andrew MacIntosh, Associate Director of the ANU Centre for Climate Law and Policy.

Economists and scientists have urged governments to make a start on a long term, meaningful carbon policy because human survival is at stake.
Dr Liz Hanna says while individual events such as droughts, heat waves and fires cannot be attributed to climate change, rural communities are already collapsing as a result of the trends.
"There is no doubt large numbers of people will be moving because of lack of food and water," she said. "When resources become scarce, there will be conflict ... it will be very difficult to maintain civil society."
Dr Hanna told the audience that while behaviour change may seem difficult, "people never thought we were going to change slavery or smoking".
Professor Will Steffen says the cost of allowing the temperature to rise by two degrees celcius, is much larger than the most ambitious carbon scheme.
To keep below a two degree temperature rise, the world needs to cut emissions by three per cent until 2050. A four year delay would mean annual cuts of five per cent. If the world waits until to 2020 for carbon reduction, cuts of 9.5 per cent are required.
Dr Frank Jotzo said the best way to take carbon out of the economy is by a market mechanism which allows businesses to do the right thing for reasons of profit.
And Professor Warwick McKibbin discusses his proposal that shares are issued in the atmosphere to give everyone a stake in the environment.
"Whoever has the political will should lock it into the economic system through property rights and then the people react to the bottom line, you have to make everyone believe it's in their own interests.