By Elishya Perera
CANBERRA (CU)_As many countries around the world launch more ambitious commitments towards climate action, climate activists say that Australia is set to be an international embarrassment at President Joe Biden’s climate summit on Thursday. Although the Pacific nation is believed to be in the best position in the world to set up a renewable future, however, the federal government has failed to make the leap.
On the first day of the two-day Summit, the US President will call on the 40 heads of states to set an ambitious tone ahead of the UN climate talks (COP26) in Glasgow in November. Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison would tell his fellow leaders that Australia is not interested in making more ambitious commitments to slash its greenhouse gas emissions. He will however vow to spend an extra $540 million on renewable energy projects, in an attempt to demonstrate Canberra’s commitment and hope that this would avoid any awkward conversations between the attendees.
Australia has long been criticised for its lack of efforts to mitigate climate change. PM Morrison recently said it was clear that with the world changing rapidly, “Australia will need to be competitive in a new energy economy”. However, these views have not been reflecting in the government’s actions, as Australia remains nearly alone among its allies and partners who hope that the Pacific nation would follow their lead in launching tougher emission goals.
Labour’s shadow climate minister Chris Bowen said it would be nice to Australia being part of the conversation as the United States and other countries come up with between roadmaps to net zero.
“l criticise the government for not even having the objective, not even having the endpoint of the roadmap – net zero by 2050,” he said. “They don’t even know where they want to go. How the hell will they work out how to get there?”
Despite the federal government’s lack of enthusiasm, states and territories of Australia continue their fight to reduce emissions. According to Richie Merzian, the climate and energy program director of the think tank The Australia Institute, all states and territories have made commitments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It is for this reason that the state of Queensland plans to act alone in response to President Biden’s climate summit, as they do not want to be “left in the dust” with the federal government.
