Must Climate Change End The Platinum Age

29 November 2007

Professor Ross Garnaut

In the inaugural S.T. Lee Lecture on Asia and the Pacific Professor Garnaut asks: How the risks of climate change will interact with the 'Platinum Age' of global economic growth? What are the limits for global emissions within which the world will need to live if the risk of dangerous climate change is to be kept within acceptable bounds? What principles could be reasonably applied to the allocation of a global emissions budget amongst countries? What global emissions budget would make sense for Australia? What would these principles suggest for Australia’s climate change policy?

Dr S.T. Lee comes from a distinguished family in Singapore that has for many years supported various community, educational and research causes. Since the early 1990s, Dr Lee has supported a number of scholarly projects around the world, and in 2007 endowed an annual lecture at ANU named the S.T. Lee Lecture on Asia and the Pacific. This annual lecture will provide opportunities for distinguished figures from the Asia-Pacific to speak on developments and trends in the region and draw attention to crucial issues that affect us all.

Broad Topics: Arts and Social Sciences

Sub-topics: Economics, Environment, Policy & Political Science

Areas: ANU College of Asia and the Pacific

Professor Ross Garnaut (AO) has been commissioned by Australia’s State and Territory Governments to conduct the Garnaut Climate Change Review with an invitation extended to the Commonwealth Government to join the review. The review will examine the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy, and recommend medium to long-term policies to improve the prospects of sustainable prosperity.

Professor Garnaut has been Professor of Economics at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies since 1989. From 1985-88, Professor Garnaut was the Australian Ambassador to China.