Writer
Ian Dunlop
Ian Dunlop was formerly an international oil, gas and coal industry executive, chair of the Australian Coal Association and CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a member of the Club of Rome and Chair, Advisory Board, Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration. Executive Committee member of the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group.
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Breaking the suicidal impasse
In the last few months events have occurred globally which indicate an astonishing, but not unexpected, acceleration in the pace of climate change. The world has now entered a new era of extremely dangerous climate impacts which are already proving catastrophic in many parts of the world. The factors which hitherto have constrained warming, such Continue reading »
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Fatal mistake: Intergenerational report misleads on climate risks
The Australian Government’s public analysis of climate risk, our greatest threat, is dangerously misleading. The Intergenerational Report 2023 (IGR) is a prime example. By dumbing down the implications of climate change with simplified economic models, the IGR and similar reports are institutionalising the global failure to face climate reality. Continue reading »
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Stop dissembling: International Climate Emergency Mobilisation is essential – now
Whilst some incremental progress has been made following the 2022 change of Federal government, evidence confirms that both main political parties lack the imagination, courage and leadership to adequately address climate change. Continue reading »
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A profound failure to understand and accept strategic threats
The Defence Strategic Review reflects a profound failure of the Australian leadership to understand and accept the breadth and complexity of the range of strategic threats confronting Australia, the region, and the world. How can a realistic defence policy be determined without first understanding the risks it is supposed to address? Continue reading »
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The budget and climate change: getting our priorities right
The Government’s treatment of climate change in the 2023 Budget is a vast improvement on their conservative predecessors. That said, it continues a pattern of reluctance to face reality on the really big issues which will determine our future as a nation, notably on climate. Continue reading »
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The government has a duty to be transparent about all security risks
The overblown rhetoric on imminent war with China has been justified as the need for the Australian people to be fully informed of threats to the nation. But the same rationale has not been applied to the security threat of climate change, a far greater risk the response to which will be far more costly Continue reading »
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A desperate race to avoid locking in the pathway to human extinction
We are in a desperate race to avoid locking in a pathway to human extinction. This requires brutal honesty on the threats we face. Climate change, not China, Russia or the US, is the greatest threat the world faces; it will only be overcome with unprecedented global co-operation. Continue reading »
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Is China Australia’s biggest security threat?
No, it’s catastrophic climate change. Avoiding that threat needs co-operation with countries like China, not conflict. Australia’s challenge is to get our priorities right and be a constructive player in addressing the existential climate threat that all nations face. Continue reading »
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The Dominoes are falling fast. We face a climate emergency
The belated release of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s “Reef snapshot: summer 2021-22” has exposed the Federal government’s insistence that the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is not endangered as the lie it has always been. Continue reading »
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To the next minister for climate change & energy: The execution plan for climate mobilisation
Climate decisions taken here and globally within the next three years, the term of the new government, will determine the future of humanity. Climate is not a single issue. It is going to change every aspect of our society, so we cannot allow a continuation of the lies and deception around climate policy which the Continue reading »
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Climate catastrophe now inevitable without emergency action
By relying on consultants for policymaking, the government avoids making any serious contribution to the global effort to minimise temperature rise. Continue reading »
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Morrison’s ‘Australian Way’ climate plan is criminally irresponsible
The Coalition’s worship of fossil fuels and inept policymaking are leaving Australia defenceless against its greatest threat: climate change. Continue reading »
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Australia’s bare-minimum emissions plan rates zero all-round
Australia’s net zero plan is a techno-optimist thought-bubble: it has an inappropriate objective, no clear priorities, and no realistic costing. Continue reading »
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Climate of unreality: time to call out the National Party
The Nationals have done a disservice to the farmers they claim to champion. They cannot be allowed to lead Australia’s response to the climate catastrophe. Continue reading »
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Australia’s climate policies are a shambles — will our children forgive us? Part 2
It is too late for an orderly transition to a low-carbon future. It’s now imperative that we have scientifically literate, competent leaders acting for the common good. Continue reading »
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The deniers at The Australian with their faux commitment to climate change. Part 1
Not so fast with the good news. To avoid disaster for the planet, we need tougher measures. Nothing short of embracing a war footing will be enough. Continue reading »
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Climate change and politics as usual: A government missing in action
Successive governments’ failure to act on climate change means it is now the greatest threat to Australian and global human security. Continue reading »
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Climate Change: will the financial system survive?
One of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal global response to the escalating climate crisis has been the preparedness of financial market regulators to force their regulated institutions to face up to the implications of climate risk. Continue reading »
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The net zero emission illusion
With Covid, the government has shown itself manifestly incapable of leading or managing its core responsibilities, beset by corruption and secrecy. The climate challenge is far greater than Covid, and there are no vaccinations or quarantine against climate impacts, which from now on will increase inexorably in the absence of decisive leadership. Continue reading »
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Earth Day 2021: Australia falls further out of line with the world
It is entirely appropriate that President Biden launched his global climate summit on Earth Day 2021. Earth Day began in the US in 1970, triggered by massive pollution across the country, and the need to fundamentally change concepts of industrial development if society was to prosper, rapidly leading by the end of 1970, to the Continue reading »
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The pandemic is climate change on fast forward
The think tank idea that the world can still make a gradual transition to a low-carbon world by tweaking neoliberalism is totally unrealistic. We need to undertake a massive risk management task, the first step of which must be a brutally frank assessment of the challenge we face. It is something that business, finance and Continue reading »
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Net-zero emissions by 2050: leadership or climate colonialism? (Canberra Times Nov 2, 2020)
How fast does Australia need to reduce greenhouse emissions to play its fair part in responding to the global climate emergency? Continue reading »
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What must climate and energy policy really achieve?
The Australian Government is dangerously out-of-touch as climate change accelerates and a cascade of tipping points risks unstoppable global warming. Continue reading »
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LobbyLand. Fossil Fuel Lobbyists: Modus Operandi, Impact, Solutions
In Australia, denial mounts. The recent “Gas-Led Recovery” and “Technological Roadmap” announcements of the Morrison government confirm the continued influence of the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists. Continue reading »
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The Coal Curse – A Review
Governments are abrogating their first responsibility, which is to safeguard the people and their future well-being. The first part of historian Judith Brett’s Quarterly Essay, The Coal Curse – Resources, Climate and Australia’s Future, is a masterly dissection of Australian economic history since WW2. Continue reading »
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The really big and tough issue is the environment says Ken Henry
In last weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald, Jessica Irvine quizzed Ken Henry on his preferences for tax reform. Ken emphasised the critical importance of a clear, settled allocation of roles between the Commonwealth and the States. Continue reading »
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IAN DUNLOP. Fatal Calculations: How Economics has Underestimated Climate Damage and Encouraged Inaction
A rational response from Australia’s leaders to the unprecedented and disastrous 2019-20 megafires would have recognised, first, that they are another warning— and the strongest yet — that the catastrophic impacts of human-induced climate change are here now as lives are lost and livelihoods destroyed. Second, it would accept the need for emergency action. Continue reading »
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IAN DUNLOP. Emergency action on climate change is imperative
The first Australian National Climate Emergency Summit was in Melbourne Town Hall, 14-15 February 2020 – there will be many more. Continue reading »
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IAN DUNLOP. Have we a federal government fit for purpose or the greatest danger to our national security?
The current bushfires are unprecedented in terms of their extent, intensity, fire season length, economic and social impact. They are, without doubt, intensified by human-induced climate change. Continue reading »
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IAN DUNLOP.-The real implications of climate emergency action
The drought and bushfires ravaging large parts of Australia are a foretaste of the climate emergency which, after three decades of inaction by our political and corporate leaders, is locked-in for years to come. Continue reading »
