A greener dragon? Climate change lessons and opportunities for cooperation between China and Australia

This paper examines the impact of climate change on Australia, and whether there are lessons and opportunities for cooperation from China's experience. It contends that Australia is seemingly out of alignment with the international community in addressing climate change, not least because Australia's mitigation actions have been constrained by economic reliance on coal exports, the domestic use of coal for energy production and the influence of vested mining interests on climate change policy.

This paper argues that Australia needs a strategy to communicate and demonstrate to the Australian public that mitigating and adapting to climate change is in Australia's national interest, particularly in relation to human and comprehensive security issues. It concludes that Australia can benefit from China's experience as a 'greener dragon', offering lessons for Australia on achieving climate change-related economic and energy reform, as well as sustainable development and cooperation opportunities.

This paper was also published in the Indo-Pacific Strategic Digest series.

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