As world leaders gather for COP31, Australia's continued reliance on fossil fuel exports exposes the growing divide between its climate ambitions and its actions, writes Dr Mark Beeson.
WHO WOULD WANT to be Australia’s minister for the environment? Perhaps Chris Bowen drew the short straw.
Still, look on the bright side, Chris: at least COP31 isn’t being held in Adelaide. Just think of the attention Australia’s environmental record might have got if all those delegates had a look around while they were here.
No doubt they would have been pleased and surprised to see the widespread uptake of rooftop solar and even electric vehicles, the latter courtesy of the Iran war, of course. Thanks, Donald. A bit unorthodox, but it seems to be working. All those dead schoolgirls won’t complain either way.
Yes, that’s a cheap shot, to coin a phrase, but our leaders don’t seem to realise that it’s not possible to disconnect issue areas in a deeply interconnected world, especially when it comes to climate change. Cozying up to a regime that is actively encouraging fossil fuel use and development legitimates just the sorts of policies that are driving us all to destruction.
This could be why Chris didn’t mention our trusty allies in his opening plenary speech in Antalya: it might be a bit too soon to admit that the Trump regime probably wasn’t that great after all. Needless to say, the United States didn’t bother turning up — just like last year. Who needs multilateralism when your country is run by a “freaking genius”?
Nevertheless, in a rare expression of independence, Chris assured the delegates that “multilateralism works” and that “transparency, consultation and inclusion remain central to our approach…There will be no surprises”.
That must be why Chris didn’t bother to mention Australia’s own appalling, outsized contribution to a problem that famously knows no boundaries. CO2 emissions from Australia’s export of gas and coal are ‘almost 1,200 million tonnes for the 2025-26 financial year, up from 681 million tonnes in 2005’.
Yes, domestic emissions are going down, but it’s not possible to compartmentalise the problem and pretend that opening new coal mines and gas projects won’t add to an inescapably global problem.
This didn’t stop Chris from giving the now-obligatory, if nauseatingly patronising and hypocritical, shout to “our Pacific family”, who, as he rightly pointed out, “have done the least to cause climate change but have the most at stake”. I’m sure they’ll appreciate that acknowledgement when they disappear beneath the waves. Perhaps this is an innovative policy to fix the labour shortage in the Bush with climate refugees.
To be fair, it’s not Chris’s fault that the COP meetings have generally been a colossal disappointment and simply not an adequate response to the size and urgency of the problem we collectively face. Although having them continually hosted by some of the world’s major fossil fuel-exploiting countries is probably not helping.
Once again, it was left to UN Secretary-General António Guterres to inject some unvarnished realism into proceedings. He even suggested imposing windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies that have been raking in bumper profits as the crisis they are causing continues to intensify.
Chris might object that it’s easy for Guterres to strike attitudes because he’s on the way out. Chris, by contrast, has got to hang on to his job. Solidarity and party policy – no matter how ill-conceived, short-sighted or irresponsible – is mandatory if you’re a team player. In any case, PM Albanese is rolling out new Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to cope with the crises when they arise. What more can we expect?
Not a lot to judge by Chris’s speech, which is a masterpiece of vacuous flummery. As Chris improbably claims, we have seen “the devastating consequences of climate change — and welcomed the inspiring solutions and response”. That would be the rooftop solar, would it, Chris?
Perhaps the most interesting idea to come out of this COP so far was John Kerry’s – remember him? – surprising observation that China is leading the way, both domestically and internationally, when it comes to putting your environmental money where your mouth is. It’s clear Kerry’s career must be behind him if he’s saying something favourable (and accurate) about China.
Who knows, maybe there is a real change happening in the U.S. as it becomes increasingly obvious that the old political model is simply not working and we really have to act differently before it’s too late. Unfortunately, there’s not much danger of Australian politicians or voters leading the charge. True, the ALP’s environmental policies are not quite as bad as the Coalition’s or One Nation’s, but that’s not a high bar to clear.
If you really want to make your mark in Antalya, Chris, perhaps you could admit that Australia’s approach, like that of many other countries, is indefensible, self-serving nonsense that will eventually doom us all. Now that really would be a gesture for the ages and one your kids and their kids would appreciate, no doubt. As would we all.
Dr Mark Beeson is an adjunct professor at the University of Technology Sydney and Griffith University. He was previously Professor of International Politics at the University of Western Australia.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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