Australia losing credibility with Pacific nations, as Morrison supports coal, not climate action
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Australia’s climate change stance damaging relationship with Pacific islands, former Kiribati president warns, ABC News, By political reporter Matthew Doran , 19 Aug 19. Pacific nations may view Australia as the “worst of two evils” when compared to China, after it undermined a deal on climate change, according to the former president of one of the region’s smallest nations.
Key points:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Coalition have been broadly criticised for forcing leaders at last week’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Tuvalu to water down language on cutting carbon emissions and phasing out the use of coal. China’s rising influence in the Pacific is of concern to Australia, which has “stepped up” its presence in the region through aid and development funding. But Anote Tong, who from 2003 to 2016 served as president of Kiribati — a series of islands atolls in the Pacific which is home to more than 100,000 people — said the renewed interest from Canberra could be dismissed, as island nations expressed their disgust at the nation’s lack of leadership on climate change. “It’s really about the lesser of the two evils, I guess,” he told RN Breakfast…. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-19/australia-climate-change-inaction-damaging-pacific-relationship/11426390 |
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