Tackling climate change and growth not incompatible, says Goyder

WESFARMERS CEO Richard Goyder says tackling climate change does not have to be at the expense of the G20 growth objectives.

Andrew Mackenzie (2nd R), CEO BHP Billiton and B20 Trade Taskforce Coordinating Chair, speaks at a B20 press conference at the Convention Center in Brisbane on November 14, 2014. The G20 Leader's Summit being hosted by Australia in Brisbane will be held from November 15-16. AFP PHOTO /

Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder has declared that tackling climate change does not have to be at the expense of the economic growth objectives being pursued by the G20 leaders.

As Tony Abbott resisted pressure to shift the focus to climate change at this weekend’s talks after the US-China deal, Mr Goyder said the private sector had a big role to play in addressing ­climate change.

“If you get economic growth and more people in jobs you are actually more capable of dealing with some of these bigger societal issues like climate change,” he told The Weekend Australian on the sidelines of the Brisbane G20 summit.

“One of the big solutions to climate change is going to be innovation. And innovation again comes from an environment where individuals and businesses invest and have a framework which encourages that investment and risk-­taking. I don’t think they are at odds.”

INTERACTIVE: G20 explained

He said he supported the government’s approach as it was important to focus on a narrow set of recommendations to drive near-term economic growth and jobs. Earlier yesterday, he told reporters he expected there was going to be “a heck of a lot more” carbon emissions in 2030 than today following the deal that sees China’s emissions peaking by that date. “So I think it’s important that there’s an agreement between the two big emitters,” he said. “But the world has got a heck of a lot more work to do on climate change.”

The comments came ahead of a crucial meeting last night between more than 25 business leaders and G20 leaders.

Last night, the Prime Minister told the meeting that economic growth was necessary for jobs and that “profit is not a dirty word”.

“The absolute foundation of everything we do has got to be a strong economy. The only way to have a strong economy in the end is to have profitable private businesses,” Mr Abbott said.

“Not only is business good for society, but profit is essential for business and therefore profit is not a dirty word.”

On Australia’s agenda for its presidency year of the G20, Mr Abbott said that “if we have economic growth, then the jobs will come.

“If we look for jobs first, we might end up jeopardising the growth that we need and then of course the jobs will be short-term and unsustainable rather than long-term and sustainable.”

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Goyder — who is the B20 Australia chairman — said there was an “an absolute need to act now” on crucial economic reforms to unlock growth.

“To get these things up there needs to be bold reform and a stiff spine,” Mr Goyder said.

While progress is expected on the infrastructure agenda, the business advisory forum known as the B20 wants more to be done about “unnecessarily rigid” labour market policies and also to drive trade.

The B20 is asking the G20 to make commitments in five key policy areas — finance, human capital, infrastructure, trade and transparency.

If implemented, the 20 recommendations by the B20 would “easily exceed” the G20 target to lift global growth by an extra 2 per cent.

The Abbott government has put a goal of adding $2 trillion to the world economy over the next five years at the heart of its agenda for the G20 presidency year.

Mr Goyder vowed that one of the key messages from the B20 would be that “if you want business confidence to grow and lead to further investment then probably the best thing you can do is ensure these recommendations are implemented”.

He also revealed that the B20 leaders met with US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to discuss the reforms.

Pressing the case for reform, Mr Goyder said New Zealand had shown the benefits of successfully implementing economic reform and freeing up opportunities for business investment.

“It lowered trade barriers, made fiscal reform and increased immigration,” he said.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey, who chaired the B20’s infrastructure and investment taskforce, urged leaders at this weekend’s summit to make pro­gress on a global infrastructure hub. The B20’s research found the hub would add $600 billion to global GDP.

“We are going to ask the leaders if there is really a strong support for this initiative among the G20 countries,” Mr Thodey said. BHP Billiton chief executive and B20 trade taskforce chair Andrew Mackenzie said he was “delighted by what appears to be a resolution” of the impasse over the Bali agreement to slash customs red tape.

The B20 pointed to the OECD’s latest economic outlook, which found the global economy was running below its long-term trend. That report also pushed for tax, trade and labour reforms.

It also emerged yesterday that B20 Sherpa and UBS senior adviser Robert Milliner would continue in a role with the B20 into next year to ensure there was ­follow-through on the reforms.

Turkey will take over the G20 chairmanship next year.

A focus will be on getting the proposed global infrastructure hub up and running as quickly as possible.

Mr Goyder said Australia wanted to “do our bit to assist the governments in getting the hub up and running as quickly as possible and that we work closely with Turkey and other G20 countries to ensure that these recommendations are implemented”.

This weekend, Mr Goyder will separately meet Russia’s former B20 chairman, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs president Alexander Shokin, and Turkey’s B20 chairman, Rifat Hisarciklioglu.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: ANDREW WHITE