Australia ＂woefully unprepared＂ for climate change: environment groups

CANBERRA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A coalition of environment and business groups warned that Australia is "woefully unprepared" for the impacts of climate change.

In a paper published on Friday, the Australian Climate Roundtable (ACR) said the climate change debate in Australia was too focused on the cost of action rather than the cost of failing to act.

The ACR is made up of environmental groups such as the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and leading business groups including the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and Australian Industry (AI) Group.

"There is no systemic government response (federal, state and local) to build resilience to climate risks," the paper said.

"Action is piecemeal, uncoordinated, does not engage business, private sector investment, unions, workers in affected industries, community sector and communities, and does not match the scale of the threat climate change represents to the Australian economy, environment and society," the paper said.

"Even with ambitious global action in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, Australia will experience escalating costs from the climate change associated with historical emissions."

"These costs will be significant and will require a concerted national response to manage these now unavoidable climate-related damages."

It called for the Australian government to guide its policies by adopting a long-term objective of net-zero emissions by 2050 for the Australian economy as a whole, and of increased social equity and global competitive advantage for Australia in a net-zero world.