Real-world scenario: The Australian Government introduced a Carbon Tax in 2012 to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and to tackle the serious environmental problem of climate change. The Coalition Go

WORD LIMIT: 2000 WORDS

Real-world scenario: 

The Australian Government introduced a Carbon Tax in 2012 to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and to tackle the serious environmental problem of climate change. The Coalition Government introduced a Direct Action Plan to replace the Carbon Tax and to achieve the same goal of greenhouse gas mitigation.

Select your corporate case or a sector

You are working as an economist / in the finance industry when you are approached to give advice on the policies above. For this project, you can choose the corporation that you are advising and the industry sector of which your corporate case aligns. 

Select your sector and/or case. The case/sector selection is critical to this task. Seek advice if in doubt. Listed below are some examples. You are free to choose other corporate cases or sectors apart from what is listed below

Examples of Sectors                                                                                 Examples of Corporate cases

Urban water                                                                                                  An urban water authority

Renewable energy                                                                                        A solar energy retailer

Non-renewable energy                                                                                   An electricity retailer

Food manufacturing                                                                                      A food manufacturing firm

Transport                                                                                                          A logistics firm

Mining                                                                                                               A mining firm

Forestry                                                                                                              A plantation firm

Building construction                                                                                       A construction firm

Banking                                                                                                               A commercial bank

Local government                                                                                               A shire or council

Healthcare                                                                                                                A healthcare provider

Horticulture                                                                                                            A horticultural firm/winery

Alpine tourism                                                                                                        An alpine ski resort

Details of the task: 

Compare and contrast the two policies of the real-world scenario and evaluate the likely impacts of both policies on your selected corporate case/sector by applying the knowledge gained from the course.

In your response, as a minimum, you should:

1) Describe the predicted climate change impacts on your chosen case or sector.

2) Discuss the rationale and the theoretical underpinnings of a carbon tax and compare it with the Direct Action Plan.

3) Identify various risks and opportunities for the chosen sector or firm in a carbon constrained world.

4) Outline appropriate adaptation strategies.

Formatting the Final Project

The final document should be submitted as a double-spaced Microsoft Word document with:

• a title page indicating the title of the project, your name and student ID number
• an introduction and conclusion (even if they are brief)
• use the Harvard referencing style for both in-text referencing and citing and in the end of the document reference list.

You are encouraged to embed online media (hyperlinks to specific websites, videos and podcasts) in order to comply with the word limit restriction. It makes sense to provide more analysis and present descriptive contents using external web links or hypertexts. However, this should be to support your own analysis. Your teacher should be able to assess your knowledge and skills to complete this task via your own ability to meet the subject intended learning outcomes:

• Evaluate the empirical evidence relating to climate change and its adverse impacts on natural and built environments in Australia.
• Apply economic principles relating to climate change and evaluate key mitigation and adaptation policies in both developed and developing countries.
• Discuss core strategic issues relating to the international response to climate change mitigation.
• Assess and propose appropriate adaptation and business strategies in response to climate change and present them in a report.

FURTHER RESOURCES

The Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Business summarises the IPCC AR 5 implication for business :

http://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/business-action/low-carbon-transformation/ipcc-climate-science-business-briefings/ipcc-briefings

The UNFCCC has a database of business case studies on adaption and reducing the risks of climate change:

http://unfccc.int/adaptation/workstreams/nairobi_work_programme/items/6547.php

The blog from the Earth Institute asks, "What are five tech companies doing about climate change?"

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2016/03/04/what-five-tech-companies-are-doing-about-climate-change/

On the carbon tax versus the direct action plan (ERF) here are three journal paper references

Freebairn, J, (2016), "A comparison of policy instruments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions", Economic Papers, Vol 35, Issue 3, p.204-215

Burke, P.J, (2016), "Undermined by adverse selection: Australia's direct action abatement", Economic Papers, Vol 35, Issue 3, p.216-229

Clark, H., Fraser, I, and Waschik, R.G. (2014)., How much abatement will Australia's Emissions Reduction Fund buy?", Economic Papers, Vol 33, Issue 4, p.315-326