How Australia Survived a Climate Policy Reversal

Australian businesses and organizations say they know firsthand the damage that can be done if a national government retreats from climate commitments—and they have some suggestions for U.S. companies on how to respond.

The Liberal-National Party, led by Tony Abbott, swept into office in 2013 and famously repealed a national carbon tax, becoming the first nation to both adopt and then revoke a price on carbon dioxide emissions.

Abbott’s government also abolished a climate-change commission, drastically weakened the former government’s 2020 greenhouse gas emissions targets, and tried to abolish several agencies. Less than two years later, with his poll ...