Climate truths unearthed
by Heather Leggett
Professor
Ross Garnaut AO had a clear message for the nation at the 12th
Annual Hawke Lecture held in early November: when it comes to
climate change we are “facing a moment of truth”.
Speaking to a captivated audience, Prof Garnaut argued that
it is in Australia’s national interest to seek an ambitious
international agreement on climate change mitigation.
The economist and author of Australia’s most significant
review of the national implications of climate change, The Garnaut
Climate Change Review, emphasised that climate change is not a
problem of the future, but of the present.
“In the early 21st century, emissions have been growing
much more rapidly than before and than previously anticipated,” he
said.
“We have squandered the time and the headroom that we had
in the early 1990s. We need to change the trajectory of global
emissions urgently if high risks of dangerous climate change are to
be avoided.”
Presenting the day after returning from an overseas
pre-meeting for December’s Copenhagen Summit, Prof Garnaut expressed
the need for more developed countries to acknowledge the
significance of their role.
“There can be no effective mitigation without all
countries of substantial size making major contributions to the
solution,” he said.
Garnaut acknowledged his former colleague, Bob Hawke AC,
for environmental reforms during his time as Prime Minister.
“The reforms of the Hawke years demonstrate that a Prime
Minister with strong electoral standing has considerable autonomy in
executing a policy of reform in the national interest,” he said.
“It also shows that consistent messages to the community
over long periods and commitment to gradual and steady progress
towards long term goals can widen the scope of what is politically
possible.”
In his vote of thanks at the Lecture, Hawke publicly
supported the Garnaut position.
Hawke said that a public education campaign and
discussion, supported by facts, would help Australia come to a
decision on how best to tackle carbon emissions.
Read the full Garnaut Hawke Lecture transcript.