Australia Unprepared For Climate Change

A coalition of environment and business groups warned that Australia is "woefully unprepared" for the impacts of climate change. The Australian Climate Roundtable (ACR) said the climate change debate in Australia was too focused on the cost of action rather than the cost of failing to act. There is no systemic government response (federal, state and local) to build resilience to climate risks. Action is piecemeal, uncoordinated, does not engage business, private sector investment, unions, workers in affected industries, community sector and communities, and does not match the scale of the threat climate change represents to the Australian economy, environment and society. Even with ambitious global action in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, Australia will experience escalating costs from the climate change associated with historical emissions. It called for the Australian government to guide its policies by adopting a long-term objective of net-zero emissions by 2050 for the Australian economy as a whole, and of increased social equity and global competitive advantage for Australia in a net-zero world.