Our Climate and Energy Dilemma

Ian Dunlop: What we need is a Government of National Unity

The Below excerpts are from Ian Dunlop’s keynote address at Engineers Australia 

To listen to and watch the entire presentation visit the Climate Emergency Declaration  site.

“We have to change the fundamentals of society in a way which is much deeper than we are currently thinking. We are not going to see growth in the conventional sense – it will be a different form of growth, I would suggest. And we need that leadership. So from where ever you are within the community – whether it is professions or elsewhere – we have to see that really coming through as strongly as we possibly can. So any support that you can give to that, whatever ability you have, the better.”

“We are going to have to change the context of the debate. Build coalitions of champions committed and prepared to speak out on this, because you are not going to get leadership from the political world. It is too hard, given the way we have structured the political system. You need community pressure. You need the progressive groups in society who are prepared to get in behind this, particularly progressive corporates, the insurance industry, the investors who are now starting to realise that there are some very big problems they haven’t been thinking about, and the professions, particularly engineering who are going to do all this.

The military, in understanding the risks. And where we have governments, fine, they should join in. But the international institutions are way ahead in recognising what we have to do. So we have got to expand that emergency movement. The implication in a policy-sense is that you have to take a normative approach. You’ve got to really say: “Look, this is where we are going to get to. What are we going to do to get there?”

Not a question of what is politically possible, and if we manage to do a little bit better, then that’s fine. We’ve got to take the absolute emissions reduction required.

This has got a whole lot of implications for national security which are starting to become more obvious. And obviously setting the right playing field to allow it to happen – in other words: we are essentially giving subsidies to the fossil fuel industry that are five times greater than what the renewable energy industry gets. Why?

We have to stop that. And we have to stop high carbon investments.

I think in the end you have to set this set of issues – if you like: the common good – outside the normal political arena. Otherwise we won’t get it sensibly addressed. Carbon pricing is required. Removal of subsidies. Bio sequestration. Research…”
Excerpt of Ian Dunlop’s keynote address at Engineers Australia’s event, ‘The Big Conversation’

For More Information Visit: Climate Emergency Declaration