Ross Garnaut

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The Garnaut Climate Change Review was commissioned by former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, [17] and by the Australia's state and territory governments on 30 April 2007. After his election on 24 November 2007 the Rudd, confirmed the participation of the Commonwealth Government in the review.

The final report was released on 30 September 2008 [18] and recommended that Australia should indicate at an early date its preparedness to play its full, proportionate part in an effective global agreement that 'adds up' to either a 450 or a 550 emissions concentrations scenario, or to a corresponding point between.

Australia’s full part for 2020 in a 450 scenario would be a reduction of 25 per cent in emissions entitlements from 2000 levels. For 2050, reductions would be 90 per cent from 2000 levels (95 per cent per capita). Australia’s full part for 2020 in a 550 scenario would be a reduction in entitlements of 10 per cent from 2000 levels. For 2050, reductions would be 80 per cent from 2000 levels or 90 per cent per capita. If there is no comprehensive global agreement at Copenhagen in 2009, Australia, in the context of an agreement among developed countries only, should commit to reduce its emissions by 5 per cent (25 per cent per capita) from 2000 levels by 2020, or 13 per cent from the Kyoto compliance 2008–2012 period. [19]

The report's recommendations in terms of policy, apart from a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which included forestry and agriculture, centred heavily on hoping that carbon capture and storage and other coal pollution mitigation technologies would be available on a wide scale within the next twenty years.

The report was criticised by the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the economic impact that reducing greenhouse gas emissions would have. [20] It was also heavily criticised by environmental organisations, including Friends of the Earth [21] and Rising Tide Australia. [22] The Australian Conservation Foundation praised the report for advocating a 450 ppm target. [23] Clive Hamilton was heavily critical of the report, arguing that it reduced global expectations of what should be aimed for, naively exposed Australia's negotiating tactics to the international diplomatic sphere, alienates both the Australian public and the international community, misjudges the time frames necessary to avoid dangerous climate change, gives Australia numerous special deals, and would be rejected by the international community. [24]

Responses from political parties were mixed. Australian Greens leader Bob Brown showed that the report demonstrated that reducing greenhouse gas emissions would not come at the expense of Australia's economic growth. [25] Climate Change Minister Penny Wong did not comment directly on the report but said that economic responsibility needed to be considered in responding to the report, and that the Government would wait before Treasury modelling on climate change mitigation before responding. [26]

In November 2010 the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency commissioned Professor Garnaut to update his 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review. [27] Eight papers were released in February and March 2011 [28] and the final report of the Garnaut Climate Change Review Update 2011 was presented to the Government on 31 May 2011. [5]

In September 2010, Professor Garnaut was appointed as an independent expert advisor to the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee. [29] The committee will explore options for the implementation of a carbon price and will help to build consensus on how Australia will tackle the challenge of climate change.

Garnaut on nuclear power

In 2008, Garnaut was of the opinion that nuclear was not obviously necessary in Australia's low carbon energy future. He told the media: "Nuclear energy is an important part of the global response to a low-carbon economy, but under Australian circumstances, it is not obvious that nuclear is an important part of our answer." [30]

His position on the matter was countered by Ziggy Switkowski, leader of the 2006 UMPNER Review, and an advocate for nuclear power in Australia.

Garnaut considers nuclear power to be a "low emissions" energy source, given its negligible emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere during plant operation. As such, he supports nuclear power as part of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions especially given rising energy consumption in Asia. He has also publicly noted China's commitment to expanding its fleet of nuclear reactors, even in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. [31] [32]

Recognition

Personal life

Married to Jayne, with sons John (born 1974 – a journalist for Fairfax Media newspapers) and Anthony (1977).

Books

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "Professor Garnaut's CV" (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  2. "Ross Garnaut to take post at Melbourne : News : The University of Melbourne". Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  3. Garnaut Review Web Site: Welcome
  4. "Rapid growth and global warming". The Australian . 3 December 2007. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007.
  5. 1 2 "Launch of final report, National Press Club, Canberra" (PDF). Garnaut Climate Change Review Update 2011. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  6. Kelly, Joe (30 June 2011). "Only the best, unless I'm wrong, says Ross Garnaut". The Australian.
  7. "Ex-PM steps in as Garnaut bows out at Ok Tedi trust". The Australian. 2 November 2012.
  8. "Ross Garnaut resigns as Chairman of OK Tedi". ABC News. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  9. Chambers, Matt (24 August 2010). "Lihir Gold to accept Newcrest's takeover offer". The Australian.
  10. Kiladze, Tim (30 August 2010). "Last day of trading for Lihir Gold". Globe & Mail . Toronto.
  11. "Weatherin the perfect storm: Addressing the Agriculture, Energy, Water, Climate Change Nexus". The Crawford Fund. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  12. "Climate risk to worsen, says adviser". Courier-Mail . Archived from the original on 4 February 2011.
  13. "Cyclone Yasi | Future cyclones could be more extreme: Garnaut". Archived from the original on 4 February 2011.
  14. Garnaut, Ross (3 February 2011). "Transcript: Release of Update Paper 1 media briefing" (Transcript) (Press release). Garnaut Climate Change Review. Retrieved 4 December 2022 via Trove, National Library of Australia.
  15. Gallant, A. J. E.; D. J. Karoly (2010). "A Combined Climate Extremes Index for the Australian Region". Journal of Climate. 23 (23): 6153–6165. Bibcode:2010JCli...23.6153G. doi:10.1175/2010JCLI3791.1. hdl: 11343/32784 . S2CID   130309461.
  16. Nicholls, N. (2008). Australian climate and weather extremes: Past, present and future. A report on research for the Department of Climate Change. Canberra: Department of Climate Change.
  17. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. "Garnaut report homepage". Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
  19. "Synopsis of key points". Garnaut Climate Change Review. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2022 via Trove, National Library of Australia.
  20. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "Rudd must reject Garnaut's low climate change targets — Friends of the Earth Australia". Archived from the original on 30 October 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  22. "Garnaut cringes from clear call to action | Rising Tide Australia". Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  23. "ACF - PM must go in to bat for Australian icons". Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  24. "Crikey - Clive Hamilton essay: Politics trumps science in Garnaut report - Clive Hamilton essay: Politics trumps science in Garnaut report". Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
  25. "Rudd must save planet too | The Australian Greens". greens.org.au. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008.
  26. "Climate policy must be responsible: Wong". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 September 2008.
  27. "Garnaut Review terms of reference" (Press release). The Hon Greg Combet AM MP Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  28. "Update papers". Garnaut Climate Change Review Update 2011. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  29. "Prime Minister establishes Climate Change Committee" (Press release). The Hon Greg Combet AM MP Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  30. "Ross Garnaut's nuclear knockout" . Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  31. "Nuclear power still important: Garnaut". 5 April 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  32. "Australia under a carbon price plan: Q+A with Ross Garnaut" . Retrieved 18 June 2015.
Professor
Ross Garnaut
AC
Ross Garnaut.jpg
Australian Ambassador to China
In office
1985–1988
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Australian Ambassador to China
1985–1988
Succeeded by