Is Australia a leader or a laggard? - On the Couch Episode 3

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Comment by Simon Wright on December 16, 2009 at 10:18am

Mans, Steve, Leon
There is no doubt we are one of the recalcitrants, something that was highlighted in a recent report on G20 along with Canada and Russia. The reality is that we are not as far behind as we think we are in terms of actions - pockets of innovation do exist - but we are way further behind than we think in terms of our general philosophy and approach. Undoubtedly for me, the key issue has been an absence of political and corporate leadership, with each in each's pockets. And it's not just on climate change or environment that we lag, it's on sustainability in the context of staff, products, customers and community. A lack of agreement in Copenhagen (which now seems likely) will open the way for somebody to fill this leadership void. Sadly the NGOs lack the power and the community lack the will - life is just too easy for those most engaged in the debate - so the outlook is not great, at least on our shores. Enjoy the holiday !!

Comment by Leon Young on December 15, 2009 at 9:20am

Mans and Steve, I think you've both hit it on the head. One of the most infuriating arguments made over the past 2 years against putting a price on carbon has been 'why should we go first?'. There needs to be some clear communication to the Australian public that we are not first, in fact we are a long way behind much of the world. There also needs to be re-enforcement of the fact that we profit enormously from the emissions of countries such as China and therefore it is entirely reasonable we should pick up some of the cost.

Comment by Steve Fanale on December 15, 2009 at 9:04am

Recent Liberal party activity indicates to me that we are a laggard. We still don't have bipartisan support on a way forward and if Australia is to significantly improve it's "polluting" record then changes need to be made at the top. ie government and big business

Comment by Mans Carlsson-Sweeny on December 14, 2009 at 6:54pm

Having lived in Australia for almost a year it is crystal clear to me that Australia is a severe laggard in terms of sustainability. Apart from being one of the biggest polluters in the world per capita, the country has had fantastic opportunities to become a leader, particularly within renewable energy but has unfortunately chosen a different route, i.e. to focus on feeding China's hunger for resources and short-term profits instead. In many cases the mentality is: "sure I care about the environment, but why should Australia be at the forefront?” It is not. However, I can think of many reasons why Australia should care to be at the forefront (even strictly financially speaking), including economic impact from droughts and bushfires (both for the agricultural sector and for the public at large), loss of tourism revenue from the dying Great Barrier Reef, refuges from islands that will become submerged, etc.

Another sign of being a laggard is when numerous people in the country’s second largest political party genuinely don't believe in global warming. When it comes to the investment community, Australia has the largest number of UN PRI signatories but many of the ones I have met with have simply signed up for marketing reasons. As long as investors and politicians (whose interest is derived from the public) don't put in a bigger effort, Australia will simply fall further behind the rest of the world.