Episode 9: Carbon Economics 101
One of the challenges of engaging in conversation about climate action, is that we are speaking to highly technical issues of science and economics, and the vast majority of us are not in the position to interpret or extrapolate, query or question. But how can some people say that Australia will meet its Paris agreement, and others tell us not? Will we or won't we? We are told to trust science, and trust the economist, but we should all be empowered to engage in the conversation, and help us disentangle fact from theory from opinion. Today's episode is about you with the basics, and breaking down key terms and issues that are relevant to carbon economics and policy debate. Joining me today in studio is Climate policy specialist and economist Dr Graham Sinden..
KEY QUOTES
“We operate in a physical environment, and we are used to the parameters of that environment, how hot it is, how cold it is, how windy, where the sea level is supposed to be… as that changes we will have to adapt. As that changes, that may actually cause direct damage.”
“If a hot day kills a farmer's crops, a cool day the next day doesn’t undead them. Sure, you can look at the average temperature, and the average temperature looks fine, but the damage is done.”
“It’s a very creative accounting solution, but effectively we are still banking in 2030 the benefits of the deal that we cut in 1990, which didn’t really represent the future emissions economy of Australia.”
“One of the fundamental ideas in climate policy is if you’re implementing climate policy you are doing it to achieve a climate outcome, and the most obvious climate outcome is limiting greenhouse gas emission, because that limits how much the atmosphere changes, that limits the physical consequences of climate change etc. So the design of policy should involve a restraint on emissions. “
“In Australia, we don’t have policies that establish economy wide caps on our emissions. So It is entirely feasible that within our current policy construct we can be consistent with that policy… and our emissions will at the same time will rise.”