Esteemed climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern stressed the importance of deforestation in ameliorating the impacts of climate change while speaking at the National Press Club today.

He also said Australia could do a lot on climate change, that the world was at the start of “a new energy and industrial revolution,” and that a price on carbon was required to fix market failure.

In the past day, Stern has met with Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, Shadow Climate Minister Greg Hunt, former Coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull and executives of the Global CCS Institute, for which he serves as international advisor.

He also met with independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, whom he described as “very thoughtful, reflective and well-informed people thinking very seriously about the problems of the future.”