14th August 2002
News release
Contact Dr Clive Hamilton 02 6249 6221 0413 993 223
Professor John Quiggin 0417 744 614
RATIFY KYOTO – ECONOMISTS
More than 250 of Australia’s academic economists today called on Prime Minister John Howard to ratify the Kyoto Protocol without delay.
The 254 economists, including 39 Professors, are signatories to a statement calling on the Prime Minister to ratify the Protocol in Australia’s economic and environmental interests.
“As economists, we believe that global climate change carries with it serious environmental, economic and social risks and that preventive steps are justified,” the statement says.
“Policy options are available that would slow climate change without harming employment or living standards in Australia, and these may in fact improve productivity in the long term.”
The economists’ statement follows warnings from 2000 international scientists under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of new and stronger evidence that global warming is attributable to human activities, and warnings from the CSIRO that climate change has the potential to seriously disrupt agricultural output, water flows and natural systems in Australia.
The statement and the list of signatories will be delivered to the Prime Minister’s office at 11 am today.
The statement and full list of signatories may be viewed under What’s New on the Australia Institute website.
http://www.tai.org.au