What can we learn from what other countries are doing?
Every country must design its own plan for mitigating and adapting to climate change because every country has different industries, energy profiles, and geography. For example, some countries have been able to commit to net-zero carbon emissions for their energy sector because they rely on nuclear power.
That said, there are examples from many countries of how Australia can transition away from high-emissions policies. The UK has committed to the largest emissions reductions. It is committing to a 68% reduction by 2030, 78% by 2035 and net-zero by 2050. This is significant because these commitments clearly require strong action now, not just a commitment to net-zero by 2050 all the action being put off until 2049! The EU has committed to emissions cuts of 55%, on 1990 levels and has made these targets legally binding. The United States has also significantly increased its climate ambition. These are the commitments that Australia will be pressured to strive for at the November COP.
There are so many potential examples of good practice. Many countries, including Belgium and the UK, have either ended or committed to ending coal-fired power. Denmark has some of the best renewable energy policies. Sweden is the largest per-capita contributor to the Green Climate Fund (to help developing countries with the costs of adaptation and mitigation). The United States offers significant tax incentives to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles and states like California have strong car emissions standards.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that Australia has much that it can share with the world. Our researchers are world leaders on many aspects of climate change science and adaptation, and we have already started trialling carbon-negative agricultural techniques. We can also learn from our own past. Australia did have an excellent framework in place when Julia Gillard introduced the carbon price back in 2011. In the year that it operated it already started to bring down emissions because emitters realised it was going to be cheaper in the long term to transition than to keep paying to be able to emit. It was repealed by the Abbott Government and emissions have been rising ever since.
