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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am.
Right now world leaders are preparing to meet for a historic global climate change summit, to try and limit the catastrophic impacts of global warming.

After decades of inaction and a lack of leadership, countries like the United States and China are finally working together to try and develop real solutions.

But Australia has already been singled out as a roadblock to taking serious climate action.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on the global shift towards tackling climate change, and how Australia could hold everything back.

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RUBY:

Mike, Scott Morrison is about to meet with other world leaders to discuss combating climate change. Going into that meeting, how would you say Scott Morrison is seen, as a leader, when it comes to climate action?

MIKE:

Well, to answer that question, we should look back over his record as Prime Minister and at some of the things he said and done.

So, you know, just a couple of months after the Liberals rolled Malcolm Turnbull and Morrison came to power, he went on Sydney radio and just poured scorn on international efforts to prevent catastrophic global warming.

Archival tape -- Alan Jones:

“It’s fourteen and a half to seven, Prime Minister Morrison is with me, good morning.”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Good morning, Alan…”

MIKE:

That was on October 8, 2018. And a new report had just come out from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And it said things were worse than we thought. Nations had to greatly increase their efforts if the world were to avoid warming of 1.5 degrees.

Archival tape -- Alan Jones:

“The IPCC - this is the Achilles heel, I guess, for all or many governments in the Western World at the moment - are now making another report on climate change...“

MIKE:

So Morrison went on radio with Alan Jones and he was challenged by Jones to do as president Donald Trump had done and just, quote, rip up unquote, Australia's commitment to the Paris agreement.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Well it doesn’t change any of that, because we meet it all in a canter. So, I could ask this question-”

Archival tape -- Alan Jones:

“If that’s so then rip up Paris.”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“No, no, what is to be gained from ripping it up…”

MIKE:

And Morrison's reply that was that there was no need to do that because Australia wasn't bound to act in response to the latest calls.

And then he went on to say, and I'm quoting now, nor are we bound to go and tip money-...

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“...tip money into that big climate fund. We're not going to do that either. So I'm not going to spend money on, you know global climate conferences and all that sort of nonsense. I’m not going to get in there...”

Archival tape -- Alan Jones:

“If that’s the case, why don’t you just say we’re out of it…”

MIKE:

So Morrison's announcement that he would stop contributing to the Green Climate Fund, to which Australia had pledged 200 million dollars to assist smaller nations with the transition away from fossil fuels, that came as a complete surprise to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. And it was of immense disappointment, of course, to our Pacific neighbours, who are particularly threatened by climate change. But anyway, Morrison was intent on copying Trump at that point.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“So long as we’re not throwing money into some global climate fund and getting pulled around by the nose by all these international agencies when it comes to these other reports…”

MIKE:

And so we did stay in the Paris Agreement, but our government continued to treat calls for greater action with just disdain. You know, in October 2019, for example, Morrison skipped a climate summit at the United Nations, even though he was in New York at the time.

Behaviour such as this, saw Morrison regarded in return with disdain by, you know, countries that were taking the climate fight seriously.

Notably last December, at a climate ambition summit, our Prime Minister was denied a speaking slot on the basis that he had no increased ambition to speak about.

RUBY:

So it's fair to say then that our international reputation on climate action has been damaged as a result of some of the things that Scott Morrison has said and done for the past two and a half years. In that time, though, Mike, the world has moved on climate action, particularly in the U.S. in the wake of Joe Biden's presidency.

MIKE:

Well, that's exactly right. It's changed a tremendous amount. I mean, Trump was sort of Australia's partner in inaction, you know, because he didn't he didn't believe climate change was real.

So, after Trump was swept out of office, Biden came in, with this enormously detailed plan on climate change.

Archival tape -- Joe Biden:

“In my view we’ve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. We can’t wait any longer. We see it with our own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones…”

MIKE:

Biden also spoke about generating 100 per cent of electricity from renewables by 2035. Biden talked about more energy efficient buildings. He talked about new climate risk reporting standards for business and industry and much, much more. Every single US government administration department, you know, from Foreign Affairs to Defence was brought into this. So it's a whole of government thing.

Archival tape -- Joe Biden:

“Imagine knowing that you are handing your children and grandchildren a country that will lead the world in producing clean energy technology, and we’ll need to address one of the biggest threats of our time. That’s what we’ll do.”

MIKE:

And I might add to the American administration's ambitions, don't stop at the borders either. He's put John Kerry, who's got a long track record on climate matters, in charge of charging around the world, basically a special climate envoy, trying to get countries into line. And Biden promised that within his first 100 days in office, he would convene a, quote, climate world summit, to directly engage the leaders of the major greenhouse gas emitting nations and try to persuade them to join the US in making more ambitious pledges, you know, above and beyond the commitments they've already made in Paris. So so that's what he promised. And sure enough, he's delivered. And that two day summit takes place today. And it will involve 40 nations which collectively account for more than 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

RUBY:

And one of those nations is Australia. So tell me about what the US has been saying about us and the ways in which we might contribute to the summit. What sort of negotiations have been underway in the lead up?

MIKE:

Well if we go back to February, John Kerry was speaking to former vice president, Al Gore, who's another big climate activist.

Archival tape -- John Kerry:

“We're gonna have to show people that we’ve got a strong NDC, we’re actually implementing, we’re passing legislation…”

MIKE:

And he singled out Australia as a roadblock to action that past international climate summits.

Archival tape -- John Kerry:

“Australia’s had some differences with us, we’ve not been able to get on the same page completely, that was one of the problems in Madrid as you’ll recall…”

MIKE:

Over the past few weeks, Kerry has been engaged in this whirlwind round of negotiations, intent on encouraging and cajoling and where necessary. And this is important, helping facilitate finance to get other nations to lift their climate change ambitions. He noted, for example, that during the Obama presidency, the US had committed three billion dollars to the Green Climate Fund, but it only managed to deliver a third of that before Trump came in and abandoned it. And in doing so, Kerry said America had, quote, shot its credibility in the head.

And Kerry, the climate envoy, said that you know, Biden now is intent on not only putting back the two billion dollars that was owed, but also putting in more. So all of this, I think, indicates both the size and scope of U.S. ambition, and it also points to Australia's lack of credibility on climate matters that, you know, the same fund that America is now promising to pump billions more dollars into is the same one that Morrison was happily boasting on, on shock jock radio about pulling out of.

RUBY:

We’ll be back in a moment.

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RUBY:

Mike, we're talking about the climate summit that US President Joe Biden has convened. So what are we actually hearing about in terms of the targets and goals that might be agreed to over the next few days?

MIKE:

Well, we'll have to wait for the conference itself to hear the hard numbers. But the early mail is that the US is going to very much lead by example.

The US is going to announce a new target somewhere in the range of 45 to 50 per cent by 2030 on their way, of course, to net zero by 2050. So that's a big shift. Meanwhile, Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, is in Washington for meetings on a range of issues, including defence. But climate’s a big part of it. And it's very possible, I'm told, that Suga will announce a new nationally determined contribution, a new target, at that summit. And the suggestion seems to be that they may well just follow the American line, 45 to 50 per cent reduction.

The Koreans may also be going to move, and they’re, of course, another of our big fossil fuel destinations. And then, of course the European Union will be there, as will a number of individual European countries. The European Union's current target is a 55 per cent reduction by 2030. And there are still internal discussions going on about lifting that further to 60 per cent. Britain's emissions are already 51 per cent below what they were in 1990, and they're shooting for 68 per cent by 2030.

So, you know, our current target of 26 to 28 per cent looks pretty wishy washy by comparison.

RUBY:

And is that the target that we're bringing to the summit, Mark?

MIKE:

Yes, 26 to 28 per cent below the 2005 levels by 2030. And that's unchanged since it was agreed in Paris back in 2015. So Morrison continues to insist that Australia will meet this target...

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“I said that we would meet our Paris commitments in a canter.”

MIKE:

...quote, ‘in a canter’.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“26% we’re gonna hit in a canter.”

MIKE:

He says that all the time: ‘we'll meet it in a canter’.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“We will meet our 2030 targets in a canter also…”

MIKE:

But independent analysts say this isn't likely. And the government's determination to foster more fossil fuel mining, you know, particularly gas extraction, will make that task harder. I might add here, too, that Australia is one of a rapidly dwindling minority of national governments not to have committed to net zero by 2050. You know, to date, something like 120 other countries have made that pledge. So have all the Australian states and territories, so have many of the big financial institutions and other businesses, you know.

Meanwhile, the Morrison government remains internally divided, you know, between the conservatives who don't want to do any more and frankly are cranky that we've done as much as we have and the more progressive elements of the Liberal Party who would very much like to see, you know, a net zero by 2050 Target.

RUBY:

And Mike, are there any signs at all that Scott Morrison is feeling the pressure of this? Have we seen him repositioning at all ahead of the summit?

MIKE:

Not a lot. Some people continue to speculate that maybe he will move to the net zero by 2050, target sometime this year.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Now, as a government, we are charting our own course to ensure Australia is well placed to prosper through the great energy transition of our time…”

MIKE:

But on Monday, he spoke to the Business Council of Australia and said that the road to net zero was already underway and would include energy and industry, as well as agriculture and manufacturing.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“...to ensure that we can get to that net zero economy, as I said, as quickly as possible and preferably by 2050, and I'm increasing in confidence with the plan that we're developing to achieve that.”

MIKE:

He certainly is not doing anything about this interim target of 2030, which is very important and to which all these other nations are now, you know, lifting their ambition.

Morrison in that speech made it clear that he would not apply a carbon tax or a carbon price.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“We're not going to meet our climate change targets through punishing taxes. I'm not going to tax our industries off the planet. We're going to meet our ambitions with the smartest minds, the best technology and the animal spirits, of our business community.”

MIKE:

And the other thing about Morrison is that he continues to try to make this sort of a part of the divisive culture wars.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“We're not going to achieve net zero in the cafés, dinner parties and wine bars of our inner cities…”

MIKE:

And then he went on to say…

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“It will be achieved by the pioneering entrepreneurialism and innovation of Australia's industrial workhorses, farmers and scientists…”

MIKE:

Well, this is drivel. I mean, this is an utterly false dichotomy. You know, the bankers, the insurers, the corporate executives and the shareholders of the big corporations will drive this at least as much as the farmers out in the backblocks. You know, and they will be meeting in the cafes and the wine bars and at the dinner parties and they will be discussing, what this means for the future financial solvency of the corporations they're invested in.

You know, so the reality here is that Morrison is still talking around the edges when it comes to firm commitments. And it's unlikely to be good enough for the US. It's unlikely to be good enough for the Europeans, and frankly, the Biden summit is shaping up as being pretty embarrassing for Morrison I think.

RUBY:

Mmm and Mike, do you think that we can expect to see any real change come out of this summit? Because over the years we have seen goal after goal being set. There's been so many summits convened, but there has been very little change. So what would make this any different?

MIKE:

Well, you're quite right. There has been a lot promised and not nearly as much delivered. But, you know, we live in hope. And the signs are that the Biden administration is very serious this time around you know? The Europeans are very serious, the UK is, and our major trading partners and and more importantly, our markets for fossil fuels: you know, Japan, Korea, China, all are shifting now. You know, this is the one issue on which the U.S. and China, for example, have had civil negotiations in recent times. And those are very big shifts.

You know, we'll get a clearer picture at the end of these talks and we'll get an even clearer picture over the coming six or seven months, because following this meeting, there will be a meeting with the G7 nations in Cornwall in June, and then it will all culminate with the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow in November.

But quite frankly, the way things are moving, you know, if Morrison doesn't shift his ambition pretty radically, we're going to look increasingly, I think, like a shag on a rock.

RUBY:

Mike, thanks for your time.

MIKE:

Thank you very much.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today

World leaders have reacted with relief to the news that former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty by a jury of murdering George Floyd.

President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are among the world leaders to welcome the verdict.

Floyd’s death sparked a global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement last year, and calls for an end to police violence.

And the NSW government has paid $100 million to stop a coal mine on agricultural land in the state's north-west.

The government paid the Chinese company Shenhua to withdraw its lease application for the open cut coal mine at Breeza, near Gunnedah.

Farmers and environmentalists had lobbied against the mine for years.

I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am. See ya tomorrow.

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