Latest IPCC report supports evidence Australia urgently needs to improve its climate policies

The latest report by the world’s top climate scientists has significantly supported the growing evidence that Australia urgently needs to improve its climate policies to help prevent further extreme weather conditions and species extinction and to safeguard ocean icons such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Released last night, the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius is almost inevitable over the next two decades, bringing with it longer and severe heatwaves, droughts, and species extinction.   

The IPPC Sixth Assessment Report addresses the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change, bringing together the latest advances in climate science, and combining multiple lines of evidence from paleoclimate, observations, process understanding, and global and regional climate simulations.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) said Australia’s current climate target is more consistent with a 2.5-3.0℃ rise in global average temperature – a level that would devastate the Great Barrier Reef and all the world’s coral reefs.

AMCS highlight that there are three major opportunities for the Australian Government to demonstrate climate leadership over the next 10 months - the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP26), the World Heritage reporting deadline of 1st February 2022 and the federal election due before May 2022 and state that the Government cannot afford to delay implementing proper climate policies any longer.

AMCS Great Barrier Reef campaigner Cherry Muddle notes “as custodians of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia has a responsibility to be a world leader in reducing emissions to help lower the temperatures that are driving coral-damaging ocean heat waves.”

Muddle said the IPCC report backs the science-based draft decision of UNESCO to recommend listing the Reef as ‘in Danger’ due to climate change and water quality pressures. The World Heritage Committee (WHC) recently deferred a decision on whether to list the Reef as ‘in Danger’ until it meets again in July 2022.

Muddle advises “we still have time to act but massive emissions reductions are needed right now.

“This is clear from the IPCC report, as it was clear in all previous reports and more recently, and closer to home, the WHC’s warning that the Great Barrier Reef could be listed as ‘in Danger’ unless the Australian government demonstrates improved protection.

“Every fraction of a degree of warming will be crucial for the Reef in the next 10 years, it will shape its future. So let’s just get on with taking the action it needs.”

To contribute to limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5C based on 2005 levels, Australia needs a national Emissions Reduction Target of 75% by 2030 and policies to achieve net zero by 2035, including a just and orderly transition out of coal-fired power stations and supercharging investment in renewables electricity.

While polls suggest a carbon tax is unpalatable to most Australians, putting a price on carbon is considered by many to be an essential tool in the effort to avoid an even worse climate disaster.

Recent University of Sydney modelling suggests a ‘tax then trade’ scheme of pricing carbon, rather than just a trading scheme, is the most economically efficient.  

An initial, short-lived tax provides a signal to emitters about the adequacy of their investment in abatement technology, says lead author Associate Professor Tiho Ancev from the School of Economics. This creates greater overall efficiency and lower permit prices. It is also more politically palatable than a tax-only scheme.

Associate Professor Ancev notes that imposing a price on carbon is a cost-effective way to reduce emissions. Numerous countries around the world, such as the EU member states, Canada, New Zealand, parts of the US, and now China use this method of emissions reduction. This has led to significant reduction of carbon emissions in these jurisdictions, especially in the EU, where carbon pricing via a tradable permit scheme has been in operation since 2005.

“COVID-19 pandemic is a small challenge compared to climate change, and if we are going to address it to avoid an even bigger future crises, we can’t go at it without having a carbon price,” adds Associate Professor Ancev.

To access IPCC Sixth Assessment Report go to ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/