Abstract
[Extract]
In Australia, the extensive policy and legal implications of anthropogenic global warming began to be understood only in 2006, after the release of the Stern report and Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Until then, the Howard government in collaboration with the fossil fuel industries had downplayed the extent of anthropogenic warming and its likely impacts. The delay in Australia's response has meant that there is still very little Australian legislation which
addresses climate change and no legislation which contains effective mitigation measures. Nor has there been a concerted legislative response to the likely impacts of climate change through the imposition of effective and proactive adaptation measures. Other Western nations, with the exception of the United States, have been somewhat quicker than Australia to respond to a global problem which has been documented since 1990 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Thus far, however, there have been no radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, even though most scientists consider such cuts absolutely necessary to stave off the more catastrophic consequences of climate change.
In Australia, the extensive policy and legal implications of anthropogenic global warming began to be understood only in 2006, after the release of the Stern report and Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Until then, the Howard government in collaboration with the fossil fuel industries had downplayed the extent of anthropogenic warming and its likely impacts. The delay in Australia's response has meant that there is still very little Australian legislation which
addresses climate change and no legislation which contains effective mitigation measures. Nor has there been a concerted legislative response to the likely impacts of climate change through the imposition of effective and proactive adaptation measures. Other Western nations, with the exception of the United States, have been somewhat quicker than Australia to respond to a global problem which has been documented since 1990 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Thus far, however, there have been no radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, even though most scientists consider such cuts absolutely necessary to stave off the more catastrophic consequences of climate change.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Public Space |
| Volume | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
| Externally published | Yes |
