Antinuclear

The Lowy Institute report – written by Howard Bamsey, Australia’s former special envoy on climate change, and Kath Rowley, the general manager of reviews at the Climate Change Authority – says climate change negotiations should be at the top of Australia’s priorities. If not, Australia risks losing the ability to influence the shape of a new global climate treaty that could have major consequences for its own economy.

The report comes at a critical time. Australia’s Abbott government is using the surplus credits secured by the Howard government’s dedicated negotiating effort nearly two years ago, but shows no interest in negotiating similar outcomes which could be critical to Australia’s economic health in coming decades.

Countries are now beginning to make pledges in the lead-up to the climate talks in Paris, where an agreement that can provide a platform for limiting average global warming to 2°C – a target agreed way back in Copenhagen – is expected to be drawn, and include developing countries.

But in the past two years, since the election of the Abbott government, Australia’s track record in the negotiations has been poor. In some cases it has been non-existent.

In Poland, Australia did not even bother to send a minister, and its negotiators appears to do a complete about-face in their positioning, causing much consternation to other countries. The international community was stunned that Australia had decided to scrap its carbon price, having viewed as one of the leading and best conceived schemes in the world.

In Lima, Australia’s position was more nuanced, but its delegation was only 14-strong, little more than half that of previous delegations.Foreign Minister Julie Bishop only managed to travel after winning a fierce debate with the Prime Minister’s office and even then was “chaperoned” by trade minister Andre Robb, a climate sceptic.

“A year and much influence have been forgone,” Bamsey and Rowley write in their analysis. Yet they say these negotiations are of huge importance for Australia.

“They will shape the actions countries take, the resulting economic opportunities and risks for Australia, and, ultimately, the extent of climate risks and impacts the nation faces.

“Few if any other international negotiations invoke such consequences. In no other multilateral process are Australia’s interests so distinctive.

“The UN negotiations and related intergovernmental activities should be in the very top category of the Government’s and DFAT’s priorities.

The authors say that Australia’s delegation team needs to be bigger, with more dedicated staff………

Ultimately, Australia’s diminished influence could have an impact on its economy, in ways that the Australian public, and the Australian media, did not understand. (Indeed, RenewEconomy has been the only Australian media at the last three climate talks, Doha, Warsaw and Lima).

“Very slowly, the tide is beginning to turn against the model of development that relies on unfettered exploitation of natural resources,” the authors write.

“Increasingly, national leaders are committing their governments to strategies that aim for strong growth with much lower natural resource inputs (and consequently, lower pollution outputs).

“Terms such as green growth and the circular economy are finding their way into the mainstream — although this would hardly be evident to consumers of Australian media.

“These concepts and the economic opportunities they present are feeding back into the negotiations in a positive way and narrowing traditional divisions. What has been exclusively a burden-sharing debate is taking on a more complex and optimistic tone.

“Australia currently ranks low on global indices of low-carbon competitiveness, but has the endowments and other factors to improve rapidly, and to contribute to a virtuous circle between the global economy and the negotiations.”http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/abbott-throwing-away-australian-influence-at-climate-talks-report-says-73834