Newsroom staff
15 February 2016: Australian economic expert and former Liberal Party and Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson AM, delivered a lively address on how technology and innovation can answer the climate challenge at this year's University of Canberra Krebs Lecture, which can be viewed in its entirety below.
Dr Hewson has previously accused Australian governments – from both major parties – of playing short-term politics and delaying addressing the climate change challenge.
Recalling his time as Leader of the Opposition in the lead up to 1993 federal election, he recalled his environment policy, which he suggested may have been overlooked as the GST debate was raging at the time.
"The environment policy called for a 20 per cent cut in emissions by the year 2000 off a 1990 base," he said.
"I stay up and think about it sometimes these days and I wonder how it is we've ended up, 20 odd years later, with neither side of politics yet able to demonstrate how they can just get a five per cent reduction off a 2000 base by 2020, let alone how they are going to achieve 26 or 28 per cent reductions as they've committed to in the Paris agreement by 2030.
"To my mind, I take the Climate Change Authority's view that those targets, 26 to 28 per cent, are about half what they should be."
Dr Hewson said it was a pleasure to speak to the engaged audience at the Ann Harding Conference Centre about an issue he has long been passionate about.
"I first got interested in the issue in the late 1980s when climate scientists made fairly general predictions that we would have to get used to the fact that there would be more extreme weather events that would occur with greater frequency and intensity," he said.
The University of Canberra Institute for Applied Ecology's annual Krebs Lecture is dedicated to Professor Charles Krebs for his extraordinary contribution to our understanding and appreciation of our natural world.
Past speakers include former Environment and Education Minister Peter Garrett AM, Senator for Tasmania and leader of the Greens, Dr Bob Brown, and internationally renowned environmentalist and author Professor Tim Flannery.
