[ZeroES.announce] Tuesday: Clive Hamilton on the Dirty Politics of Climate Change, Thursday: Impacts of Climate Change on Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity

[Robert Wiblin]

Here are two events which may be of interest and below them a brief
article by Clive Hamilton on the most recent IPCC report and its good
news. Have a great week!

Public Lecture
Clive Hamilton on the Dirty Politics of Climate Change

2007 may be the year in which climate change has hit the headlines and
the environment has become the political issue, but how much do we
know really know about the backroom deals, lobbying and power players
who influence environmental policy? Why have our political leaders
been so slow to act? Which are the fossil-fuel lobby groups that still
set the policy agenda?

In this lecture Clive Hamilton, best-selling author of Scorcher, the
Dirty Politics of Climate Change, reveals the real influences on the
politics of climate change in Australia.

Clive Hamilton is the executive director of the Australia Institute,
an independent think-tank based at ANU. He is a leading authority on
the economics and politics of climate change. His books include the
bestsellers Growth Fetish, Affluenza (as co-author), What's Left?
(Quarterly Essay 21) and Silencing Dissent (as co-editor and
contributor).

Books will be available for signing after the lecture.

Registration is essential. Please contact ANU Events.
Speaker/Host: 	Clive Hamilton
Venue: 	Lecture Theatre 1, Manning Clarke Centre, Union Court, ANU
Date: 	Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Time: 	6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Enquiries: 	ANU Events on 6125 4144

Seminar
Impacts of Climate Change on Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity

There is now widespread acceptance that the climate is changing and
that human activities are responsible. It is widely recognised that
the impacts of climate change on species and natural communities may
be profound, and in many cases, disastrous. There is also good
evidence that many species are already responding to the warming
trends experienced in the last few decades. In particular, geographic
ranges of the more mobile species are shifting poleward and upward in
elevation, and the timing of life cycles of many plants and animals is
also changing. Species responses to ongoing climate change are
expected to be individualistic although some predictions can be made
as to which species will respond most quickly. As species respond, the
communities that they live in will also change, both in structure and
composition.

This talk will briefly review recent climate changes on a global and
Australian scale, summarise projections for the future, and outline
the implications of these projections for species and communities with
a particular focus on Australian terrestrial biodiversity.

Lesley Hughes is an Associate Professor at Macquarie University where
she is co-director of the Centre for Research Excellence on Climate
Risk. She also serves on several governmental panels considering the
effects of climate change. Recent key papers include: Thomas et al.
(2004) 'Extinction risk from climate change'. Nature 427: 145-148
Speaker/Host: 	Professor Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University,
Department of Biological Sciences
Venue: 	School of Botany & Zoology Seminar Room, Building 116, Daley Road
Date: 	Thursday, 10 May 2007
Time: 	1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Enquiries: 	Dr Michael Jennions on 6125 3540



For 4c a litre, we can kill the Greenhouse effect
Date: Friday, 4 May 2007
Clive Hamilton, executive director of The Australia Institute writes:

Among all of the bleak commentary on global warming, today's third
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides some
very good news. In contrast to previous reports of the IPCC's Working
Group III, the latest is much more optimistic about the prospects of
avoiding the worst effects of global warming.

It concludes that sharply reducing global Greenhouse gas emissions
over the next decades can be achieved at very low economic cost. For
example, cutting emissions by 50% by 2050 can be had by sacrificing
only one to two years' economic growth.

Put another way, if the world economy grows at 3% per annum through to
2050, then, without any measures to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions,
global GDP will be around 350% higher than it is now. With measures to
stabilise the concentration of Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at
550 ppm, the report's figures indicate that global GDP will be 'only'
348% higher.

But 550 ppm is still too high to avoid dangerous climate change. The
report of Working Group I in February indicated that stabilising at
450-500 ppm would be much less dangerous. According to today's report,
measures to keep Greenhouse gas concentrations to this more stringent
target would see global GDP grow by 'only' 345%'.

The report suggests that the carbon price needed to achieve the
reduction to 550 ppm would be in the range US$20-50 per tonne of
carbon dioxide. This would see petrol prices increase by 4-10
Australian cents a litre and electricity prices for householders rise
by  2-5 cents a kilowatt hour on top of the 12 cents or so they pay
now.

These are only the economic costs of cutting emissions, without taking
account of the economic benefits of avoided climate change. Although
cautioning about the uncertainty in making judgements in the absence
of more studies, the IPCC report concludes that "even for the most
stringent of stabilisation pathways assessed" the costs of reducing
carbon emissions are comparable to or lower than the economic damage
avoided.

This is the same conclusion as the Stern Review; even in purely
economic terms, it makes sense to sharply cut emissions.

How will the Howard Government react to the new report? It should
welcome it as it eliminates the main reason the Government has given
for refusing to take measures to cut Australia's burgeoning emissions.

But it is more likely that it will attempt to ignore, reinterpret or
dismiss the IPCC report. After all, the report undermines the
Government's criticisms of Labor's target of 60% cuts by 2050. That
now seems eminently achievable economically.

Clive Hamilton is the executive director of The Australia Institute
and the author of Scorcher: The dirty politics of climate change,
published by Black Inc last week.