Research by The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and SGS Economics and Planning shows that transitioning to a clean economy is sound economic development. Even when the benefits of reduced emissions are ignored, the economic benefits of transitioning to a low-carbon economy easily outweigh the costs. So what's next? How and why should we go low carbon?
On 1 August 2019 SGS held an in house panel discussion to discuss the findings from the Australia's Clean Economy Future: Costs and Benefits report and the actions businesses and governments can make to move to a low-carbon economy.
The panellists included:
- Professor Tom Kompas, The University of Melbourne
- Dr Marcia Keegan, SGS Economics and Planning
- Simon O'Connor, Responsible Investment Association Australia
- Mark Rodrigues, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
This event was facilitated by Ellen Witte, SGS Economics and Planning
Speakers highlighted how the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the economy would be much lower than the avoidable costs of climate change, including loss of agricultural production, reduced labour productivity, loss or arable land damage to infrastructure as well as potential mechanisms governments can use to reduce carbon emissions, including investing in infrastructure to support electric vehicle rollouts.
