The Australia Institute is calling on the NSW Government to support a National Climate Compensation Fund, funded by a levy on fossil fuel exports, to help cover the crippling costs of climate change on the state.

Today’s NSW Treasury Intergenerational Report on Climate Risk shows the average annual costs of climate change for NSW to increase by over $10 billion annually over the coming decades, with the costs of up to $75 billion in any given year.

• The National Climate Compensation Fund would raise $5 billion annually, to help cover climate change costs that would otherwise be paid by ordinary Australian households and businesses.
• The funds would be directed entirely to meeting the escalating costs of climate change including emergency disaster response and recovery from fires, floods, heatwaves and storm surges.
  • Funds would also assist farmers, tourism operators, local government and others at the frontline of these impacts.
• The proposed levy is on exports, therefore would have no impact on energy prices in Australia, and would create around 5,000 jobs including emergency responders, construction workers and services supporting impacted communities.

“Just a few global coal, oil and gas companies are responsible for the vast bulk of the emissions fuelling climate disasters like fire, floods and heatwaves,” said Mark Ogge, Principal Adviser at The Australia Institute.

“Many fossil fuel exporters operate in NSW yet contribute nothing to the costs of climate disasters. Most of these companies pay little, if any, tax.

“Someone has to pay for these costs. At the moment, the costs are paid entirely by ordinary NSW households and businesses through property loss, disruption, higher taxes, rates, and insurance premiums.

“Without a levy on these companies, NSW households and businesses will have to foot the bill, while the global coal giants get off scot-free.”