Antinuclear

Australia snubs United Nations on climate change

Abbott puts Australia out of the Hunt on climate change Independent Australia,  8 November 2013,  Coalition has signalled its commitment to climate change action by deciding not to send a minister to high level UN talks on the issue for the first time since 1997. Matt McDonald from The Conversation comments.

THIS WEEK, the Australian Government announced that it would not send a minister to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Poland for the first time since 1997. This announcement came on the back of a cancelled stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, traditionally held in advance of UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (CoP) meetings……..

the climate conference snub is one with troubling implications for climate politics and Australian foreign policy generally. Post-election we’ve seen an assault on climate policy, and lingering suspicion over whether Abbott has genuinely put his denialist tendencies behind him. These negotiations provide an opportunity for the government to signal a commitment to action on climate change, both domestically and internationally.

Australia should be sending the message that it is an engaged and proactive member of the international community, concerned with helping to forge global solutions to global problems. The desire to be, and be seen to be, a “good international citizen” certainly shaped the Hawke and Keating Labor governments’ engagement with climate change diplomacy. And it allowed Australia to play a constructive role in the growing international efforts to act on climate change, even despite the limits of domestic climate policy.

There is a further, paradoxical dimension to Abbott’s UNFCCC snub. If climate change is viewed through the lens of the narrow and short-term national economic interest, the future of Australia’s coal exports actually hinges on the terms of international agreements on climate change. If the Abbott government is determined to prop up this industry for a little longer, the government needs strong representation to put this case to the international community as effectively as possible.

Either way, whether as a constructive member of the international community or a determined protector of Australia’s immediate economic interests, the Australian government needs to send strong representation to UNFCCC meetings. On the verge of 2015 talks that shape to be the most important since Kyoto in 1997, disengagement from the climate regime at this point sends entirely the wrong message, both domestically and internationally. And it suggests that the Coalition’s shaky foreign and climate policy start is set to continue.http://www.independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/abbott-puts-australia-out-of-the-hunt-on-climate-change,5877

November 9, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics international