Eighteen years ago, on this day, March 30th, 2007, World Bank economist Nick Stern visits Australia…
In the sometimes icy world of climate change politics, there appears to be a quiet hum of agreement about the desirability of an emissions trading scheme.
The visiting climate change economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, supports the idea.
The Prime Minister, after years of disinterest, has given it a tentative tick of approval by commissioning a task group on emissions trading, which will report at the end of May. And the state governments have set up their own emissions trading taskforce.
Even the big polluters – Qantas, Alumina, BHP – all endorse it in submissions to the two inquiries. But there are serious divisions about how an emissions trading scheme might work.
Saulwick, J. 2007. Climate change debate warms up in corporate world. Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 384ppm. As of 2025 it is 427ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the Stern Review on the economics of climate change had come out in October 2006 and had become a minor part of the Australian awakening and the argument for a carbon price. Prime Minister John Howard had been forced to do a U-turn and appoint the so-called Shergold Group to look at emissions trading. It was of course, stacked with business interests. How could it be anything else? Stern was on a whistlestop tour of Australia. (I don’t know who funded it and what the rationale was, but there he was. It’s possible that he was brought out by Labor-aligned people who wanted to see the back of Howard.)
What I think we can learn from this is that, if I’m right in my supposition, policy entrepreneurs will bring in foreigners with kudos to try and help them win domestic battles. Pawns on a chess board is an imperfect analogy, because there’s a set number of pieces at the start of chess…
What happened next
Stern admitted that he was wrong in 2013 at Davos and that the implications were worse. See
January 25, 2013 – Lord Stern admits #climate “worse than I thought”
John Howard was comprehensively defeated in 2007 November at the Australian Federal election, and Australia did finally get an ETS very briefly, between 2012-2014. It was then abolished by Tony Abbott.
Australian emissions haven’t really significantly dipped (and not at all if you count all those coal exports).
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
March 30, 1948 – The Conservation Foundation founded
March 30, 1983- EPA sea level rise conference
March 30, 1992 – Thelma and Louise could teach humans a thing or three….
March 30, 2005 – The Millennium Ecosystems Report is launched.
March 30, 2007 – Climate as “the great moral challenge of our generation” #auspol