Fresh policies that unlock private capital investment could accelerate emissions cuts and boost climate change resilience

Australia can boost its climate change resilience and accelerate emissions reductions with policies that unlock private capital, the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) said in response to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s address to the National Press Club.

IGCC Chief Executive Officer, Emma Herd, said Australia needed prudent management of climate risks that would reduce the financial, economic and community costs of climate change. This includes physical risks, such as worsening drought and fires, and the economic risk of a disorderly shift to net-zero emissions.

“Investors are already making decisions on whether or not to deploy capital in Australia on the basis of their own climate change risk assessments,” Ms Herd said.