00:00Look, I'm sorry to say this, but we're not going to stop global warming. We should keep
00:07trying to hit net zero by 2050, and the Coalition should keep tearing itself apart over it.
00:13But we're halfway through the 50-year project of achieving net zero emissions that started
00:17in Kyoto in 1997, but emissions haven't started falling yet. The average world temperature
00:23is already more than the 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels that the world pledged
00:29in Paris in 2015 to try to avoid. And while one hesitates to attribute blame, it's China's
00:36fault. China is almost entirely responsible for the increase in carbon dioxide emissions
00:41since 1997, with a bit of help from India. High-income countries are entirely responsible for what
00:47happened before that, which is a lot. Australia's emissions have increased by 20% as well, but
00:53that amount is a rounding error. Now, I pointed out here a fortnight ago that China is leading
01:00the world in renewable energy, which is true, but it's also leading in the burning of coal.
01:07So where does this leave us? Well, I think the most useful thing the government can do is
01:11focus on getting ready for the reality of global warming and take full advantage of the energy
01:17transition, because it is starting to accelerate, even though it might be too late. In the short
01:23term, it's going to be an insurance problem. The cost of extreme weather events in Australia
01:28has been doubling each decade. A new study released last week showed that hailstones are getting
01:34bigger and more damaging, but the big one is floods. They're getting deeper and wider.
01:40And if you live in a floodplain now, you're uninsured. The governments, state and federal,
01:46have to build levees, or lift houses up onto stilts, or move people to higher ground. The
01:52insurance industry wants a $30 billion 10-year flood defence fund, which is probably not enough.
01:59But a carbon tax would pay for it, and would also do something about emissions.
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