Australia announced its intention to bid for COP31 in conjunction with the Pacific Islands. This is a great opportunity to bring the focus of the international community to some of the world’s most vulnerable countries – the Pacific Small Island Developing States. But the bid will not automatically provide a fig leaf to cover Australia’s less than stellar climate record. It is now time for Australia to establish its climate bona fides by stepping up to take responsibility for its actions.
Australia has been missing in action at COP for the best part of the last decade, the conga line of fossil fuel companies, particularly gas, came to a crescendo in Glasgow where you could not tell the difference between the Australian pavilion and that of the gas industry. A change of government in Australia in May has bought a change in rhetoric — but will it be matched by action?
A visit to the Australian Pavilion in this COP shows an increased focus on First Nations, as well as a removal of fossil fuel branding. This is a welcome step. But, while domestically the landscape has changed, Australia must step forward at this COP. Of keen interest will be whether Australia supports the loss and damage provisions being argued by civil society. Also, will it phase out fossil fuels in the near term, especially in the Australian context including billions in current subsidies. Watch this space.
In the Pacific, we see some of the most climate change impacted communities, with sea level rise threatening to make entire countries uninhabitable in the near term. Communities are already being displaced and already forced to relocate as a result. Key economic sectors such as agriculture and tourism are being brought to their knees by frequent and intense tropical cyclones, floods and droughts, as decades of development gains are rolled back in a matter of hours. The climate crisis is deepening the social, economic inequalities and inequities, pushing many vulnerable groups and communities further to the periphery.
ECO is of the view that Australia must go even further to make up for its many years of foot dragging at the UNFCCC. Australia can begin this by championing just transition in the Pacific region in the lead up to COP 31. This should include a moratorium on new coal development in the region, as well as the provision of new finance for adaptation and economic diversification for its Pacific partners. Is it too much to dream of a Pacific that is declared a fossil fuel non-proliferation zone? Not so, if Australia is serious about sticking to the 1.5 degree goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
The joint bid for COP31 needs to pave the way to close the massive gap between what is currently the largest per capita emitter on the planet — Australia — and the most vulnerable group of nations in the world. This joint bid will also bring into sharp focus the need for transformational change to drive climate policy ambition and implementation in developed countries. It is literally a life or death case for Pacific Island States.