Australia's Low Pollution Future: The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation

The Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Water released Australia's Low Pollution Future: The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation on the 30 October 2008. This report presents the results of the Treasury's economic modelling of the potential economic impacts of reducing emissions over the medium and long term. It spans global, national and sectoral scales, and looks at distributional impacts, such as the implications of emission pricing for the goods and services that households consume. The Treasury's modelling demonstrates that early global action is less expensive than later action; that a market-based approach allows robust economic growth into the future even as emissions fall; and that many of Australia's industries will maintain or improve their competitiveness under an international agreement to combat climate change. The modelling shows that Australia and the world continue to prosper while making the emission cuts required to reduce the risks of dangerous climate change.