We could lead the world on climate

WE’RE living through a period of enormous disruption. Our climate is changing, industries are shifting, technology is moving at breakneck speed and now a pandemic has reached into the lives of all.

The World Economic Forum says we are entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This has been defined as a “new chapter in human development” where advances in technology, from artificial intelligence to genetically modified organisms, will change the way we live, work and relate to one another. It will be a period of “huge promise and potential peril”.

The scope of this transformation requires a rethink of how Australia engages with the world. How will we succeed? Will we stay on the path that took us through the 20th Century – a smaller middle power, dependent on alliances, and on fossil fuels for our export earnings? Or is there another road?

The good news is there are abundant opportunities in front of us. To seize them, we must harness the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to deliver on global sustainable development goals and move towards a truly regenerative economy. Australia can lead the way in delivering the world’s First Regenerative Revolution.

This means focusing on development that is equitable and self-sustaining for communities and within the capacity of our planet to regenerate. We also need to support and learn from our First Nations communities, who have been working with nature to build ecological resilience for tens of thousands of years. We must use the pandemic as an opportunity to reset and redesign for the future.

The signs of a Regenerative Revolution are already visible in our major trading partners. New technologies, like nanotechnology and biotechnology, are being introduced into old-style manufacturing practices in innovative ways that mean development and regeneration can go hand-in-hand.

As a nation, there are three specific opportunities we can seize now. The first is our potential to become a superpower exporter of renewable energy and zero-carbon products. With the world firmly on the path of decarbonising, the next decade will see a declining demand for fossil fuels and a rapid growth in markets for renewable energy and zero-carbon products such as green steel and aluminium.

Australia could – and should – aim to produce and export seven times the amount of electricity we consume. Reaching 700 per cent renewables by 2050 would enable us to meet our entire domestic demand, including switching all transport and industry to renewables, plus produce renewable hydrogen fuels for export; send renewable power to Asia via sea cables; and manufacture zero-carbon products like green steel and ammonia. This will be lucrative as well as good for the planet.

WWF Australia has released a report with ACF, ACTU and BCA that shows investment in clean energy exports could generate 395,000 new jobs and $89bn in new trade by 2040. Research from Beyond Zero Emissions shows green export industries could be worth $333bn per annum to Australia by 2050 – triple the value of our existing fossil fuel exports. We already have leaders in the field, like Sun Cable’s network of solar infrastructure and Fortescue Future Industries’ green hydrogen, but we need to forge ahead with speed and ambition.

We have less than a decade to reinvent ourselves as a global provider of clean energy that dwarfs today’s fossil fuel exports.

The second opportunity lies in the transition to sustainable production and a circular economy. We’ve already demonstrated our ability to make rapid progress on eliminating single-use plastics, so becoming a zero-waste economy – where technology and innovation are harnessed to ensure everything is recycled, repurposed or shared – is not beyond our reach.

The third opportunity lies in supporting government, businesses and civil society to develop the new skills, training and thinking required for this Regenerative Revolution.

Aligning profit with social purpose will be key. Australia is already the third largest provider of international educationin the world. This is a role we must continue to pursue.

Now is the time for Australia to become a sustainability superpower.

One should ask why the Queensland government is planning to exempt the “Right of information” requests regarding the 2032 Olympic Games. So much for the pledge of an open and transparent government. And politicians wonder why people have little faith in them and the political system.

George, Edge Hill

How would the police keep the CBD safe for residents let alone tourists if we went to 24-hour trading? A curfew on under 18s would be essential before it was even contemplated.

Anon, Cairns

Any carbon emission reduction in Australia by 2050 will be done by private businesses and state governments not by coal huggers like ScoMo and Joyce. Car rental company Hertz in the US has recently ordered 100,000 EVs, that’s the sort of investment this pair is dreaming of in their carbon emissions sham.

Lionel, Bayview Heights

Re: Ric (CP, 28/10), we are vaccinated so the unvaccinated can’t hurt you because we are vaccinated. Isn’t that why we have to get the vaccination, so what’s your point?

Jack, Cairns

Re; “It’s time for an upgrade” (CP, 28/10), the Brisbane government is controlled by greenies who prefer Cairns as it was in 1990 and don’t want any development up here at all. If they can stall or block something they will. That’s why the regional plan has not been upgraded. It’s just one of many reasons we need a separate NQ state. Joanne, Manunda

What a dilemma facing Cairns Regional Council today. Doing away with committees is the best news ever I reckon. Someone once formed a committee to design a horse. Guess what they came up with, a camel. Not much has changed really.

Paddy, Mt Sheridan

To Mr Gasparin, three shops do not a Rodeo Drive make and where has the shade gone in the artist’s drawings? DB, Bungalow

Amazing that one day people are talking about planting more trees to green up the city and the next someone is proposing to cut down a tree in order to construct a piazza/fountain.

Atticus, Cairns

Pumping water out of a river or an old riverbed aquifer is not the same as a mass storage facility like Copperlode Dam. To meet their core water security obligation council must gain the cooperation of state and federal governments to remove us from the ridiculous UN WHL supranational restrictions. We’re capable of caring for our environment without permission from the global-socialists in Brussels. Brian, Manoora