Risks of climate crisis to Australia’s economy and environment are ‘intense and scary’, unreleased government report says

Sources say delayed risk assessment includes modelling of effects of climate crisis in ways that have been little discussed in political debate so far

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An unreleased Australian government report on the economic and environmental risks posed by the climate crisis is “intense and scary”, and confronting even for those who work in the area, according to people familiar with the assessment.

The delayed report – the national climate risk assessment – includes modelling of future climate damage, estimates of the number of people who could be killed by worsening heatwaves and a mapping tool that forecasts flooding risk in suburbs across the continent.