When we know that something was done poorly in the past, our conscious coax us to find a new and progressive way of living-learning from our mistakes, or shall we say experiences. And then there are situations, which are linked with awareness and knowledge. As an example, until the vehicle emission standards for new vehicles were introduced in Australia in the early 1970s, it was ok to drive vehicles at the cost of human health and environment. However, once the standards were put in place everyone accepted the new standards that eventually proved to be good for human health and the environment. If you ask your heart, it will quietly but very convincingly tell you that a progressive tightening of the vehicle emission standards in Australia for the last 40 years was indeed a good thing to do.

As individuals, we all want advancement, be it in our thinking or in our actions to keep pace with the dynamic environment where change is the only constant – the changing season that we enjoy, the non-stop spinning of earth or the ever-expanding universe we live in.  However, the Australian Climate Change policy hasn’t advanced much in the last decade (see table below).  Now, climate change policy is once again at the center of the debate.

Timeline of Australia’s key climate change policies

Development towards a better society and a better future has always been an utmost priority for Australia. In other words, progress is the soul of Australia, which has enabled the country to navigate its journey from “Australia” to “Advanced Australia”. Unfortunately, in the climate front, the country hasn’t been able to progress further and deliver its citizens a firm climate policy yet.

In the last decade, as a climate and carbon market professional, I have witnessed many small and medium size Australian companies providing services in the climate and carbon market domain going out of business or drastically downsizing. Many international companies opened up their offices in different Australian cities in pursuit of new opportunities but soon after closed down their offices due to policy uncertainties. Had the climate policy environment been strong, these professionals would have contributed to Australian Exchequer by offering services globally leveraging Australian experiences in climate and carbon market domain. The best time to implement and embrace a progressive climate policy for Australia was ten years ago and the second best time is now.

If we look back, the Australian climate change policy account hasn’t been a straight line to date; it is full of troughs and ridges. However, the trend line could be more progressive if individuals can stand for that desired future. In Barack Obama’s words, the most important office in the world is not the Prime Minister or the President; the most important title is the “citizen”. My question to you is – Are we prepared to use our “most important title” in the upcoming 2019 Australian Federal election to carve a future that we want for our children, our planet, and us?

About the Author:

Anil Bhatta is the managing director of Melbourne-based Carbon & Clean Energy Solutions (CCES), which provides services for the clean energy and carbon markets. Mr. Bhatta has written international papers on climate policy, carbon markets and clean technology. He can be reached at anil@c-ces.com

Disclaimer: All the content in this article is completely original; it has not been inspired by, nor is it based on any other article, nor any book, and therefore the Author regrets any resemblance with any of the aforementioned, and would like to assure that it was unintentional. Moreover, the author do not intend to be offensive towards anyone who reads this article, if anything written can be perceived as hurtful to any community or person, the author apologizes, however, that was not the purpose of the writing.

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