Intergenerational Report 2023: Albanese government reveals climate change could cost Australian...
The Albanese government forecasts could cost Australia's economy an eye-watering $423billion over the next four decades - with one state to be hit particularly hard. This ominous prediction is part of the 2023 Intergenerational Report released by Treasurer on Thursday. The biggest cost will be in lost productivity which will take a $135billion hit, the report forecasts. Because of rising temperatures Australia's agriculture could also suffer crop yields falling by four per cent and tourism will also be badly affected. The Intergenerational Report charts out Australia's prospects for the next 40 years but admits that there is 'significant uncertainty around these estimates'. However, the report states if the average temperature rises by more than 2C it is likely to cause an exponential increase in natural disasters that will require three times the funding in emergency measures by 2063. If temperatures are stalled below a 1.5C rise the report forecasts the demand for Australian thermal coal could fall to only one percent of what it is currently. On the upside the world's demand for lithium would jump eight-fold and Australia is the world's leading supplier of the metal used extensively in renewables technology such as batteries. Presently the world is on a pathway to a 3C increase this century, which the report said will make life in Western Australia very difficult, as well as in remote and regional communities. 'This highlights the need for effective mitigation of further temperature increases and targeted investment in adaptation,' the report says. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was taking action to combat the threat of climate change. 'The Intergenerational Report is all about making the big shifts in our economy and our society to work for us and not against us,' he said. 'Our economic plan is designed to make Australian businesses and Australian workers beneficiaries, not victims, of the shift to cleaner, cheaper energy.' In 2022, the Albanese government committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by the end of the decade. That was almost double the previous target set as the country continues to work towards net zero emissions by 2050. In March, a law passed through parliament requiring the country's biggest polluters to reduce their emissions or pay for carbon credits. The law regulates the emissions of Australia's 215 biggest polluters.