Professor Ross Garnaut

Recent Speaker

Economist

March 17, 2011

Launch of Update Paper 6 – Carbon pricing and reducing Australia's emissions

Launch of Update Paper 6 – Carbon pricing and reducing Australia's emissions

In November 2010, Ross Garnaut was commissioned to provide an update to the 2008 Review for the Australian Government and community. The Garnaut Climate Change Review—Update 2011 will release a series of papers between February and March addressing developments across a range of subjects including climate change science and impacts, international mitigation progress, land, carbon pricing, technology, and the electricity sector. A final report is to be presented to the Government by 31 May 2011.

At this event, Professor Garnaut will launch his sixth Update Paper, Carbon pricing and reducing Australia’s emissions. The paper evaluates Australia’s policy options for greenhouse gas mitigation and sets out the important elements of a fair, efficient and credible carbon pricing regime in the current, post-Cancun world. It considers the implications of Australia’s current fiscal position on the use of carbon-pricing revenue, and discusses the various potential uses of revenue. The paper also examines the rationale for, and approaches to, providing assistance to trade-exposed industries, electricity generators and households to manage the effects of mitigation policies, and to reduce the national costs of transition.


About the speaker:
Ross Garnaut is one of Australia’s most distinguished and well-known economists. He is an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to education and international relations. Based in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University from 1972 to 2008, he was Professor of Economics from 1989 to 2008. Professor Garnaut is now Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. Separately to his work on the Climate Change Review Update, he is an independent expert adviser to the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.

From 1985-88, Professor Garnaut was the Australian Ambassador to China, and he served as principal Economic Adviser to Prime Minister R.J.L. Hawke from 1983-85. Professor Garnaut is the author of numerous books and reports, including The Great Crash of 2008 (2009, Melbourne University Publishing), and Australia and the Northeast Asian Ascendancy (1989).