Australia will not be given speaking slot at climate summit, Scott Morrison says

Scott Morrison has signalled Australia will not be granted a speaking slot at a climate ambition summit this weekend, despite telling parliament a week ago he would attend to to “correct mistruths” about the government’s heavily criticised record on emissions reduction.

Morrison was asked on the final day of parliament by the independent Zali Stegall whether he’d been invited to the event which is being hosted by Britain, France and the UN in a bid to boost climate commitments ahead of a major conference in Glasgow next year.

The organisers have made it clear countries will have to offer up substantial commitments to make contributions at the event, and Australia’s prime minister declared on Thursday he would not be changing domestic policy “to get to a speaking slot at some international summit”.

Guardian Australia revealed on Tuesday there had been debate among the co-hosts as to whether Morrison should be approved to speak at the summit given the widespread view Australia is a laggard on climate commitments.

Diplomatic sources have been signalling all week Australia was very unlikely to be granted a speaking role.

Morrison’s comments in parliament on Thursday are indicative that Australia will not be invited to speak at the event. Faced with the near certainty of a snub, the prime minister declared on Thursday whether or not he spoke at the summit was “not something that troubles me or concerns me one way or the other”.

Morrison told parliament Australia would determine the level of commitment it intended to make on climate action because “the only people I answer to in this place is the Australian people, and our government stands to serve the Australian people”.

The government believes Australia was invited to speak by Boris Johnson during a recent phone call between the two leaders. Morrison had intended to signal Australia will meet its 2030 emissions reduction target without using controversial carryover credits from the Kyoto period.

Over the past few weeks the Australian prime minister has signalled a potential retreat on the use of carryover credits from the Kyoto protocol to help meet Australia’s 2030 pledge to cut emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels – although the pivot has created a small backlash from conservative forces within the government.

New emissions projections released on Thursday suggest it would be possible for Australia to meet the 2030 target through genuine emissions reductions rather than relying on Kyoto-era credits.

Morrison now intends to flag this commitment at the Pacific Islands Forum High-Level Roundtable on Urgent Climate Change Action, a virtual regional meeting on Friday night.

Morrison is slated to speak as part of an “ambition to action high-level dialogue”, alongside New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Cook Islands PM Mark Brown, and David Kabua, the president of the Marshall Islands, as well as other Pacific leaders.

But Pacific sources say there is an expectation Morrison should announce more ambitious climate targets than simply abandoning carryover credits and insisting Australia’s existing 26% emissions reduction target will be met.

The Pacific’s chief diplomat, Pacific Islands Forum secretary general Dame Meg Taylor, last week singled out Australia as a Pacific country that needed to commit to a net zero emissions target by the middle of the century, and to end subsidies for fossil fuels.

The EU has meanwhile urged Australia and other countries to step up their commitment to “actual emissions reductions” and warned that an attempt to rely on surpluses achieved during the Kyoto protocol period could set a negative precedent.

Australia’s proposal to rely on those credits has long attracted international concern, including from Europe, and has been denounced by the Australian Labor party as an “accounting trick”. Some Coalition MPs have been agitating for the government to continue to bank the credits, arguing Australia is entitled to do so.

A European commission official told Guardian Australia on Thursday the Paris agreement, and the rules adopted by its parties since, “do not provide for the use of surplus units from the Kyoto protocol towards the achievement of a Paris agreement target”.

The official said several countries, including EU member states, had also announced they would unilaterally cancel surpluses of Kyoto units.

“A proposal to bank domestic surplus from the Kyoto protocol to Paris could set a negative precedent,” the official said in response to questions about whether the EU had raised concerns with Australia about the potential use of such credits.

“The latest science calls for bold and urgent additional action from all.”

The European commission official said all advanced economies needed to enhance their pledges “with measures representing actual emissions reductions, and action to implement them”, adding: “Australia is aware of the EU position on this matter.”

Australian and EU officials are hammering out details of a potential free trade agreement, with the ninth round of negotiations currently being conducted virtually and with sustainable development one of the topics on the agenda.

The two-week negotiating round is due to end on Friday but the European side is known to have placed a high priority on climate action in the talks.

A draft text proposed by the Europeans would commit both sides to “recognise the importance of taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”, and that each party “effectively implement” the Paris agreement.

The European commission official said the trade agreement with Australia would provide an additional framework for enhanced cooperation on climate action.

The official said the EU and its members states would continue to engage with all parties of the Paris agreement “to accelerate the uptake of ambitious policies” and “ensure the timely delivery of robust and ambitious long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies”.

To date, the Australian government has resisted committing to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 – a pledge that has been taken by a range of Australia’s major trading partners including Japan, South Korea, the UK, the EU and soon the US under Joe Biden. China has pledged to achieve it by 2060.

Morrison has not specifically ruled out making a commitment to net zero by 2050 but maintains the government first needs to be able to spell out the costs of doing so.

The European commission official said the EU had informed Australia of its objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050.

The EU was also calling on all parties to “enhance the ambition, and increase the clarity, transparency and understanding” of their commitments under the Paris agreement. That should include communicating long-term low emissions development strategies before the climate summit in Glasgow next year.

The official noted the importance of achieving “climate neutrality as soon as possible in accordance with the Paris agreement and in light of the latest science”.

source: theguardian.com