Climate change and the adaptive economy: discussion paper

Abstract

This Adaptive Economy discussion paper is designed to increase awareness of the wide range of economic and employment opportunities that arise from action to respond to climate change. While much attention has been paid to the science of climate change, our understanding of the industry and employment opportunities associated with mitigating and adapting to climate change is relatively limited in Australia. This paper makes a contribution to filling this gap, suggesting that the scale of the challenge requires us to think about transformative change, creating what might be described as an ‘Adaptive Economy’. An Adaptive Economy is one that recognises that climate change mitigation and adaptation imperatives can be a catalyst for innovation and a generator of a wide range of high value industry and employment opportunities. The need for radical innovation and accelerated uptake of solutions to climate change is already giving rise to a wide range of new business and employment opportunities. These are likely to grow rapidly as governments face the need for bolder action on climate change. While considerable uncertainty remains about how this will unfold across the globe, there is little doubt that the momentum for action will be considerable. First movers will not only contribute to meeting the challenge but will be rewarded for doing so.