Review by Trevor Lee
This is the title of the recently published Quarterly Essay (QE 94) by Joëlle Gergis.
It is a thoroughly researched and impassioned work made all the more timely by last week’s declaration by our federal coalition opposition that they intend to renege on Australia’s commitment to the Paris Agreement COP 27 including the deep cuts to our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 if they form government after the elections due next May. They do, however, remain committed to (the easier to say but harder to do) Net Zero Emissions by 2050. Here are a few excerpts from QE 94:
“Climate modelling studies have shown that an increase of ‘just’ 2°C in the Earth’s average temperature will lead to days above 50°C in Sydney and Melbourne as early as the 2040s …” p24
“… the International Monetary Fund estimates that in 2022, world governments spent around $7 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies.” p33
“… our failure to genuinely reduce our emissions is masked … (by using) a reference year of 2005, a year when Australia had unusually high levels of land clearing.” p43
“Walking away from what I thought was my dream job … given the lack of institutional support and how high the stakes are, I felt I had no choice.” p44
Gergis’ web bio cites “From 2019–2024, she was a Senior Lecturer in Climate Science in the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University.” In the context, this is a very disappointing revelation about the ANU.
The webinar for this topic will be held on 28th June 2024. Click here to register the webinar.