SYDNEY: Global warming could cost Australia’s economy hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming decades if workplaces cannot adapt to soaring temperatures, a government report said on Thursday.
Working conditions will become so difficult on the already sun-kissed and desert-scarred continent that officials are predicting a drop in output of between A$135 billion ($88 billion) and A$423 billion ($274 billion).
Global temperatures are forecast to rise by three to four degrees Celsius by 2063, leaving workers toiling in increasingly difficult conditions.
Measures such as planting trees and changing how buildings are designed would only “to some extent” help incinerator workers, the report said.
The estimate does not include the cost of agriculture or tourism – fewer visitors are expected to come to Australia due to natural disasters and the degradation of natural attractions such as beaches affected by erosion.
“Tackling climate change is a global environmental and economic imperative,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said at the release of the report.
He said billions needed to be spent to get the country to net zero by 2050, decarbonise heavy industry and build a clean energy economy.
Australia is one of the leading producers of coal and gas.
But Chalmers insisted the transition provided an opportunity for businesses and a country full of minerals needed to produce green energy technologies. “Demand for critical minerals is exploding – the opportunity of the century,” he said.
Commenting on the report, Kathryn Bowen, professor of environment, climate and global health at the University of Melbourne, said action to help people adapt to climate change needed to be “rapidly accelerated”.
