Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is unlikely to attend the COP26 conference in Glasgow because he will have 鈥溾 in November when Australia opens up.
However, domestic 鈥渋ssues鈥 鈥 including Sydney and Melbourne鈥檚 COVID-19 Delta variant outbreaks 鈥 didn鈥檛 stop Morrison from flying to the United States for a week to secure聽AUKUS, the new military pact with the US and Britain.
Climate action has never been a priority for Morrison, who would rather conspire with imperialist powers against China than tackle climate change.
His failure to address the climate crisis is a direct result of the government鈥檚 kowtowing to the fossil fuel industry. The Liberal National Coalition government聽聽from the fossil fuel sector and聽听辫谤辞箩别肠迟蝉.
Meanwhile, a blatant disregard for climate science is promoted by pro-mining climate change sceptics within the National Party, notably by its leader, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, and National Party senator聽聽who recently announced he is 鈥渄ead set鈥 against net zero emissions.
Attendance at COP26 would expose Morrison to significant pressure: even by conservative standards the government鈥檚 failure to reduce emissions聽.听Australia ranks last聽on climate sustainability goals, according to the United Nations聽, released in June.
International leaders are calling for Morrison to commit to a target of net zero emissions by 2050, which would mean Australia would at least be keeping up with a commitment made by 130 countries.
But, according to a recent聽, net zero by 2050 is not enough to address the crisis: Australia needs to be at net zero聽before 2035聽to alleviate climate change. The report聽stated, 鈥淎ustralia is spending public money in ways that exacerbate climate change, including handing out billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsides鈥, and recommended聽鈥渟hifting from fossil fuel exports to clean exports鈥 and 鈥渆nding all support for fossil fuels鈥.
The Climate Council said Australia鈥檚 failure to act would聽, which is already experiencing rising sea levels, water and food insecurity, and severe weather events. Worsening conditions would 鈥渋ncrease displacement and forced migration鈥, the report said.
Pacific Island nations have repeatedly tried 鈥 and failed 鈥 to get Australian governments to take emissions reduction seriously, most notably at the聽Pacific Islands Forum meeting聽in Tuvalu in 2019, where Morrison, notoriously, insulted and bullied Pacific Nations leaders by obstructing an agreement on climate action.
During this year鈥檚 Pacific Island Forum (held online), Fijian President Frank Bainimarama tweeted that there were 鈥渮ero excuses鈥 for countries like Australia not to commit to a zero emissions target by 2050. 鈥淭he Pacific and the planet depend on it鈥, he said.
Meanwhile, Morrison is also facing pressure from within. The NSW Coalition government on September 29 announced a plan to聽聽Even NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, like other capitalists who can see the economic opportunities from going 鈥済reen鈥, said she is 鈥渟erious鈥 about 鈥渉elping the world decarbonise鈥.
Berejiklian鈥檚 announcement followed a report by the聽聽think tank suggesting that climate action will be good for business. The think tank said, 鈥淎ustralia聽could grow a new green export mix worth $333 billion per annum, almost triple the value of existing fossil fuel exports鈥.
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