Business News

Crisis puts heat on Australian
govt over climate plan
Agence France-Presse . Melbourne

Australia’s centre-left government is under pressure to water down its plans to tackle climate change as the global financial crisis threatens jobs and economic growth, experts say.
Less than a year after winning office on a strongly pro-green platform, prime minister Kevin Rudd faces calls to amend his vision for a carbon emissions trading scheme to begin operating across Australia in 2010.
Opinion polls show wavering public support for dealing with climate change if the economic cost is too high and a number of the firms that will be hit hardest by the plan have urged the government to proceed cautiously.
‘I think people have thought, ‘hey, we’re facing a serious problem with this economic crisis, let’s deal with that first and then we can start looking at climate change’,’ University of Melbourne economics professor John Freebairn said.
‘The only problem is, you can’t put off dealing with climate change because if you do, you’ll have to take far more drastic measures five or six years down the track.’
Rudd insists his government will proceed with its plan to introduce an emissions trading scheme in 2010, despite the global market turmoil and opposition calls to delay its implementation for up to two years.
The ‘cap and trade’ scheme would involve the government setting a limit on carbon emissions and granting permits to industries to cover the amount of greenhouse gases they are allowed to produce each year.