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This study employs the dynamic recursive Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) approach to model Australia's economy. This carbon tax policy is designed based on Australia's economy, starting at A$23/tCO2, increasing over time and imposing uniformly on all industries. This study proposes two carbon tax policies and three revenue recycling approaches, and the prices and GDP variations are estimated during 2020 and 2035. This study confirms introducing a carbon tax policy decreases Australia's carbon emissions and reduces real consumption and GDP if it is not accompanied by a revenue recycling policy. But following a revenue-neutral policy and redirecting the carbon tax revenue into the economy through reducing income taxes and investing in research and development (R&D) projects leads to economic growth. This study confirms the implementation of a carbon tax associated with a suitable revenue recycling approach benefits Australia both economically and environmentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even with the best political will in the world, governments alone may not be able to prevent dangerous climate change. They will need to leverage the private sector, in particular, the financial sector, to achieve the transition to a low-carbon economy. The cumulative impact of decisions by financial actors is crucial for the success of otherwise clean energy alternatives. Despite this, only recently has the financial sector been thought of as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have led the way in seeking to change social norms about the unde-sirability of fossil fuel investment. Recently, however, prudential regulators have identified climate risks confronting the financial sector and recognized that these risks pose an imminent threat to financial order and stability. As such, prudential regulators in developed countries have begun to introduce policy responses. In the case of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), this has included public statements, "jawboning," stress tests, and carbon disclosure. This Article examines these nascent prudential regulatory responses, namely their limitations and impacts, and the role of other non-state actors, and considers potential future regulatory action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over two centuries of economic growth have put undeniable pressure on the ecological systems that underpin human well-being. While it is agreed that these pressures are increasing, views divide on how they may be alleviated. Some suggest technological advances will automatically keep us from transgressing key environmental thresholds; others that policy reform can reconcile economic and ecological goals; while a third school argues that only a fundamental shift in societal values can keep human demands within the Earth's ecological limits. Here we use novel integrated analysis of the energy-water-food nexus, rural land use (including biodiversity), material flows and climate change to explore whether mounting ecological pressures in Australia can be reversed, while the population grows and living standards improve. We show that, in the right circumstances, economic and environmental outcomes can be decoupled. Although economic growth is strong across all scenarios, environmental performance varies widely: pressures are projected to more than double, stabilize or fall markedly by 2050. However, we find no evidence that decoupling will occur automatically. Nor do we find that a shift in societal values is required. Rather, extensions of current policies that mobilize technology and incentivize reduced pressure account for the majority of differences in environmental performance. Our results show that Australia can make great progress towards sustainable prosperity, if it chooses to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cases where assisted colonisation is the appropriate conservation tool, the selection of recipient sites is a major challenge. Here, we propose a framework for site selection that can be applied to the Australian biota, where planning for assisted colonisation is in its infancy. Characteristics that will be important drivers in the decision-making process include the size of a recipient site, the potential to augment corridors and respond to niche gaps, the maximisation of climatic buffering, bioregional similarity, tenure security, and the minimisation of opportunities for hybridisation and invasiveness. Sites we suggest be precluded from assisted colonisation include sites of high species endemism, IUCN category 1 reference reserves and fully-functioning threatened ecological communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the introduction to the Ecology and Society special feature on "Applying Landscape Science to Natural Resource Management". Primarily drawing upon examples from Australia, the nine papers in the feature illustrate how landscape science seeks to integrate information from diverse sources to generate management solutions for implementation by individual land managers, communities, and governments at different levels. This introduction refers to the genesis of the feature, briefly outlines the nature and content of landscape science, and then summarizes key features of the nine papers. These are organized into two sections: one deals with inputs from human agents in the landscape, and one with the development of models enabling different management scenarios and environmental changes to be envisaged, understood, and applied to policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on how policies on climate change had been dictated by deciding between ecological improvement or in accepting the concept of Living Well. It discusses the concepts of ecological modernisation and Living Well and how both can be applied in Australia. It argues that with both ideas, economic policies, political views and prevailing social notions all dictate how each strategy is being implemented. It states that Australian ecological conservation groups must make a stand on either strategy.

Northern Australia's globally significant savannas and rivers face major threats, from cattle to weeds to land clearing to climate change. In the face of imperatives and pressures such as reducing carbon emissions, nature conservation, alleviating Indigenous disadvantage, the resources boom and global food security, how should development be managed to protect its globally significant ecosystems? Nine planks in a ‘Sustainable Northern Australia’ agenda are proposed: (i) enhance investment in mitigating pervasive landscape threats; (ii) strengthen support for Indigenous Caring for Country activities and incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge into land management; (iii) align and strengthen invasive species control and management; (iv) facilitate new economic development pathways focused on sustainability; (v) build climate resilience by maintaining and enhancing landscape-scale connectivity; (vi) protect free-flowing rivers from dams and major water resource development; (vii) establish and effectively manage a large interconnected network of protected areas; (viii) develop cooperative governance arrangements; and (ix) enhance knowledge generation and research and monitoring capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]