Australian energy and climate policy ranked 22

AUSTRALIA is ranked 22nd for its energy and climate policies in a global grading topped by Switzerland.

UK-based charity the World Energy Council on Wednesday released its assessment of the policies of 92 nations over the past three years.

Leading the list is Switzerland, with Sweden, France, Germany and Canada rounding out the top five. Last is Mongolia.

"Our index shows clearly that even countries with abundant energy resources, wealth and political stability struggle to provide stable, affordable and environmentally sensitive energy," said Mark Robson, head of the consulting firm responsible for the report's production.

"The countries that tend to be the best at balancing the resulting trade-offs between these interests are those that have diversified their energy resources and actively manage demand for energy through well-established energy-efficiency programs."

Research for the ranking was completed before Australia's carbon tax legislation passed the Senate on November 8.

While Australia is not one of the World Energy Council's 93 member nations - which include New Zealand, the UK and the US - it will be represented when the report is tabled at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban in late November.

"With the uncertain economic outlook, the need for more robust investment frameworks is now even more critical to attract the massive investment that is needed in the energy sector to achieve the Energy Trilemma: energy security, climate and environment protection and the eradication of energy poverty," Council chairman Pierre Gadonneix said.

The report encourages policy makers to introduce legislation that will cap a global temperature rise at two degrees celsius.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog