Australia could be the world's biggest beneficiary of the transition to a zero-carbon economy but the country is making hard work of the opportunity, Ross Garnaut says.
The leading economist, who forecast the advantages on offer a decade ago in his groundbreaking climate change report, says the benefits have only become clearer.
No other developed country in the world has the combination of natural resources for zero emissions energy that Australia has.
"We're making rather heavy weather of utilising that huge natural advantage," he told an emissions reduction summit in Melbourne.
The blame rests with policy, problems with the quality of business leadership and incapacity to innovate in the financial sector, he said.
The country is now taking reasonable steps with policy, but Professor Garnaut said good policy would look exactly like what he said it would in 2008.
There needs to be a comprehensive carbon price, incentives for innovation, compensation for financial system inadequacies and an institution for long-term financing.
While some of those are in place, all are needed for Australia to become a low-cost country of the low-carbon world economy.
That in turn will make Australia a natural exporter of old and new energy products and a natural location for businesses using intensive energy.
"It's there for us to lose. Australia has the super power of the low carbon world economy, let's hope that we don't actually continue to lose it," he said.
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