Risks of climate crisis to Australia’s economy and environment are ‘intense and scary’, unreleased government report says
Sources say delayed risk assessment includes modelling of effects of climate crisis in ways that have been little discussed in political debate so far.
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The analysis considered the climate impact on eight systems: defence and national security; the economy, trade and finance; First Nations values and knowledge; health and social support; infrastructure and built environments; the natural environment; primary industries and food and regional; and remote communities.
The results suggest that under some scenarios major systems – including electricity networks, transport routes, food production and supply, and the financial sector – could struggle to cope with rising temperatures and escalating extreme events.
One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the report, said: “My sense is when people read it they have a newfound sense of where climate change will lead. It is intense and scary. Even for someone who has been focused on this and thinking long and hard about IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] reports, it’s confronting to read about the details and the severity of the impacts.”
Another said: “People sometimes think things could get hotter, but it’s far more complex than just saying ‘it will get hot and people will have heatstroke.’ There is not one system that is not hard hit by climate change in the future.”
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