Strategic risk assessment: A case study of climate change
- CSIRO, Mordialloc, Victoria (Australia). Div. of Atmospheric Research
The philosophical basis for the on-going international and Australian action on climate change is the precautionary principle. The version of this relevant to Australia is that agreed to by the Australian States and by the Commonwealth of Australia as expressed in the Inter-Governmental Agreement on the Environment (IGAE). This study addresses the following questions: 1. What form of assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of climate change has been undertaken, as required under the precautionary principle? This paper claims that the IPCC process constitutes the risk-weighted assessment that is needed to justify the use of the precautionary principle. 2. Reducing the risk due to climate change requires actions on the basis of some combination of environmental integrity, equity, and economic efficiency as measured by cost-benefit analysis. Is the concept of intergenerational equity consistent with cost-benefit analysis? This paper claims that the problems of valuation over future time-scales, which may range from decades to centuries, make it difficult to apply cost-benefit analysis to the problem.
- OSTI ID:
- 471024
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960420--; ISBN 0-884736-02-5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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