Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

The Treasurer has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Table 3.7 in the Strong growth, low pollution (SGLP) report shows the projected effect on Gross Domestic Product-per-person by country or region expressed as a percentage deviation from the baseline. Since OPEC's Gross Domestic Product is significantly smaller than that of the United States of America or the European Union, the ratio of effects on Gross Domestic Product-per-person costs will be lower than shown in this table.

(2) The results in Table 3.8 indicate that it is cost effective for the OPEC countries to purchase some portion of any emission reduction from outside their region. This result is dependent on the abatement costs within the OPEC and the amount to which they choose to contribute to any global emission reduction target.

(3) The scenario modelling provides a projection of what could happen in the future, given the structure of the models and input assumptions, as acknowledged in page 24 in the Strong Growth, Low Pollution report.