The federal government's primary carbon reduction tool is Direct Action, under which it pays polluters to pollute less through a reverse auction – the emissions reduction fund.
He said: "The choice between aggressive and ambitious action on carbon reduction and a successful, powerful economy is, in fact, not a choice at all - they are one and the same".
Cities for Climate Protection, an affiliate programme of ICLEI in which cities commit to concrete actions for carbon reduction.
As noted by Keya Chatterjee, director of international climate policy with WWF, "Earth Hour does not purport to be an energy [or] carbon reduction exercise, it is a symbolic action," she said in an emailed statement after I asked about Lomborg's criticisms.
"The government has very stretched carbon reduction targets so we need to see decisive action and a level playing field for renewable technologies".
The UK government launched a Carbon Reduction Strategy for transport which set out a vision with little action on the ground.
What is now undeniable is that to reach this scale of carbon reduction, at a national and global level, an unprecedented level of action is required.
Ignoring those for whom carbon emission reduction is not an issue at all, it has still been critiqued as a pointless gesture that has a minimal effect on carbon reduction, as something which deludes participants into believing that no further action is required, and as a secular symbol with far less power than any religious one.
This concept has filtered down into government action plans and policies across many countries in the world, such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment, EU-Emissions Trading Scheme and Climate Change Agreements [14].
The Australian government's "direct action" policy will allow companies to bid for grants to implement the most efficient carbon reduction programs.
