The Other Side of the Climate Change Ledger

Media Release, 1 February 2007

The Greens call on the State Government to urgently consider the cost of inaction in the face of climate change.

"With an announcement from the Premier in response to climate change imminent it is essential that his response is courageous and farsighted," Greens MLC Giz Watson said.

"The Government's response must reflect growing community concern and the evidence of accelerating warming," she said.

"While the Government is looking at the costs of responding to climate change it must also consider the costs of inaction," she said.

The Stern Review has estimated that the economic costs of action are 5-20 times less than the economic costs of inaction.

In Western Australia, there would be significant costs from inaction on climate change, including species extinctions, more droughts, more bushfires and less rainfall in the southwest.

A State Government report indicates that without action to reduce Greenhouse emissions inflows to Perth dams will decline by about a third for the 2035-2064 period.

Based on cost estimates for a second desalination plant, this would require expenditure of approximately $80 million per year, or $2.3 billion in total over that period.