The costs of Australia playing its proportionate part in an effective global effort are manageable, according to this report. There is a path to Australia being a low-emissions economy within around 40 years, consistently with continuing strong growth in material living standards, says the review, which puts forward a policy package that will it says will facilitate the effective, efficient and equitable transformation for Australia to a low-emissions economy.

The report states that an international agreement for the post-Kyoto period from 2013 must include all the major economies if there is to be a chance of containing emissions to necessary levels. It suggests an allocation of the international mitigation effort that could be managed by developed and developing countries, without being a threat to rising standards of living.

According to the report, the overall cost to the Australian economy of tackling climate change under both the 450ppm and 550ppm scenarios was manageable and in the order of 0.1–0.2 per cent of annual economic growth to 2020.