Text space for forum aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa 19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House Canberra Climate change, water and sustainability – a new vision …and a business perspective Kate Vinot

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra Background Principal, sustainability strategies, publicly listed- global consulting company GM Environment, family-owned Australian manufacturing company GM Strategy, Government-owned urban water utility

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra Scope The new vision for climate-change, water and sustainability What this means for business How innovative business can best work constructively to achieve our national sustainability interests

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra The “New Vision” Australia 2020 Summit Population, Sustainability, Climate Change, Water and the Future of our Cities “Australia faces an unprecedented challenge from climate change. We risk losing our natural heritage, our rivers, landscapes and biodiversity. We have a brief opportunity to act now to safeguard and shape our future prosperity.” “Australia faces an unprecedented challenge from climate change. We risk losing our natural heritage, our rivers, landscapes and biodiversity. We have a brief opportunity to act now to safeguard and shape our future prosperity.”

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra The “New Vision” cont. “Our aspiration is that by 2020 Australia is the world’s leading green and sustainable economy. That we will set time-bound targets and be on track to dramatically decrease our ecological footprint while continuing to grow our quality of life. Through our creativity and skills, we will have harnessed the full potential of our natural assets and human resources to turn the challenge of climate change to our advantage.” Further aspects, “Top Ideas”

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra Impacts on Business Which business? Direct impacts? Indirect impacts? Examples: – Mining company – Solar panel provider

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra How can Business contribute? Understand the risks Direct risks? – Drought, floods, changes to ecosystem services; pests and disease, fires and storms, heat stress, sea level rise Indirect risks? – Customers, policies, regulations, community, competitors, access to finance, innovations Opportunities? – What will the market want?

19 & 20 May 2008 Parliament House, Canberra Close How can business work more effectively WITH government to: – Internalise externalities? – Remove perverse incentive that exist today? – Create appropriate institutional frameworks? – Create a reliable policy framework to enable appropriate risk-based investment?