Suva: Anthony Albanese has declared a climate emergency in the Pacific, after joining regional leaders in Fiji to warn Australia’s neighbours face an immediate threat to their security and wellbeing.
Following two days of meetings at the Pacific Islands Forum, 16 leaders signed off on the declaration on Thursday afternoon and backed Vanuatu’s campaign for the International Court of Justice to consider whether inaction on climate should be considered a breach of human rights. The forum stopped short of fully endorsing Australia’s campaign to host the UN climate change conference in 2024, but said it welcomed the initiative.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outside the Grand Pacific Hotel on Thursday after his meetings in Suva. Credit:Joe Armao
The emission reduction targets agreed by the Pacific leaders to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees are set to put pressure on Australia to lift its own climate change ambition and cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Palau and Fiji explicitly called out the Labor government earlier on Thursdayfor falling short of that target.
A draft bill obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed Labor’s plans to lock in a 43 per cent cut to emissions by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2050, through an act of parliament. Climate scientists say the first target will not be enough to limit global warming below 2 degrees.
The forum communiqué, signed off by Albanese, goes beyond Labor’s draft legislation. It is expected to say leaders want to “ensure maximum impact in terms of limiting emissions to 1.5 degrees, including obligations of all major emitters past, present and future”. That mark will raise pressure on the government to go further than its current limits and opens up the possibility of a new fight with the fossil fuel industry as Labor set its targets for 2035 and lobbies Europe for the UN climate conference.
“Leaders declared that the Pacific is facing a climate emergency that threatens the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of its people and ecosystems, backed by the latest science and the daily lived realities in Pacific communities,” the communiqué is expected to say.
Anthony Albanese with New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and Fiji’s leader Frank Bainimarama on Thursday.Credit:Joe Armao
“The world’s climate emergency is the Australian opportunity,” Albanese said after finishing his meetings in Suva. “We could be a renewable energy superpower for the world if we just seize that opportunity.”
Despite public criticism by Fiji and Palau for Australia’s weak emissions targets – which remain below those adopted by the United Kingdom and the United States – Albanese maintained that no Pacific leader had asked him about the coal industry, which became Australia’s most valuable export on Tuesday.
“What you have to do is to have a real plan with a real timetable,” he said. “That is what we have. And that is why it has received the unanimous support of our Pacific neighbours.”
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said he had asked countries in every meeting to commit to more ambitious climate targets.
“Most urgently, it requires that we end our fossil fuel addiction, including coal,” he said. “That is our ask of Australia, New Zealand, the US, India, the EU and China.”
The Pacific leaders also grappled with rising geopolitical competition over the forum’s two days. Solomon Island’s Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare reaffirmed there would be no Chinese naval base in his country despite a security deal with Beijing in April.
“I think the reason is simple: the reason is regionalism, the moment we establish a foreign military base, we immediately become an enemy. And we also put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes,” Sogavare said in an interview with The Guardian, Radio New Zealand and Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation.
“If there is any gap, we will not allow our country to go down the drain. If there is a gap, we will call on support from China. But we’ve made it very clear to the Australians … we will call on them first.”
The leaders said the forum “reaffirmed the concept of regionalism and a family first approach to peace and security”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong with Solomon Island’s Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Tuesday. Credit:Joe Armao
The communiqué is an attempt at bringing both Solomon Islands and Kiribati back into the regional tent as both countries draw closer to Beijing. China was not mentioned by name in the text, but Australia has spent the week lobbying others to recognise the security and sovereignty risks involved in deals with Beijing. The communiqué is expected to note that leaders discussed the need “for urgent and immediate assistance with vulnerability to debt”. Pacific nations including Tonga and Fiji are saddled with millions of dollars in debt to China.
Meanwhile, Australian taxpayers will help foot the $2 billion bill for Telstra’s purchase of Digicel Pacific – the largest mobile network in the region. The purchase was finalised on Thursday to avoid it being sold to a Chinese state-owned enterprise such as China Mobile.
“We have set about an objective to reconfirm Australia’s position in this region,” Albanese said. “We have been, since the Second World War, a security partner of choice.”
Albanese said he sat next to Sogavare at dinner on Wednesday and talked again with the Solomons leader on Thursday.
“What we need to do is make sure that regional security issues are looked after by our resource security partners,” he said.
“I note the Prime Minister has made very positive comments about the engagement that we had, I welcome that. I think you have to deal with people at face value, and he has made those comments, we have, of course, made very clear what Australia’s position is.”
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.
Most Viewed in Politics
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article