Global Climate Policy & Australian Politics

British Prime Minister David Cameron with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott ahead of the G20 Summit in Brisbane

As this year’s G20 summit kicks off in Brisbane, Australia, tensions mount between Tony Abbott’s conservative leaning government and leaders in the US, Europe, and China, among many others. Abbott’s opposition to global climate change initiatives is long-standing and strongly held, predicated on the belief that such efforts cause undue harm to the economy. With successive UN studies strongly supporting the idea of anthropogenic climate change and with an increasing number of countries entering more serious, well-funded climate agreements, Abbott has largely been fighting this issue on his heels. Fortunately for him, the location of the G20 this year has changed that, though only for a single set of talks.

As per G20 rules the host nation sets the agenda, giving the Australian government a comparatively massive influence over the course of the discussion for this year. Since the start of the G20 summits during the 2007 financial crisis, the international meeting has become one of the most influential annual global policy events. Before the summit began, President Obama expressed interest in the Green Climate Fund, which is aimed at helping less developed nations obtain the means to cut emissions and build infrastructure that is resistant to the effects of climate change. The Obama administration plans to invest $2.5-$3 billion in the fund out of a total $10 billion goal.

The Green Climate Fund, if successfully established, is meant to lead to wider action at a UN conference in 2015. Should the fund garner the support it needs by then, the conference could lead to developments among the international community to safeguard those vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Abbott, however, has taken a position staunchly against the creation of such a fund, stating that it would be “socialism masquerading as environmentalism.” He has consistently opposed such action in his own country as well, as is seen in his efforts to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (which he refers to as the “Bob Brown bank”).

The essential difference, in this case, is that through no other factor other than Australia’s selection as host of the G20, Abbott is able to exert his will over the issue by almost entirely omitting it. While the summit is held in different countries from year to year, the essential concept behind such an arrangement is equality among peers and an opportunity for collective economic action among many of the world’s most powerful figures. In Abbott’s eyes, climate change is an issue more suitable to direct action at the UN, and that these climate change efforts are non-economic policies that would “harm jobs and growth.” By removing climate from the conversation entirely, Abbott snubs the concerns of his fellow leaders and forsakes the opportunity for a meaningful dialogue.

Addressing climate change, like many other environmental issues, requires cooperation on an international scale. With a requirement like this, disagreement is bound to occur, but summits like the G20 are precisely the opportunities to discuss such concerns. When individuals like Abbott remove the discussion because they fear where it may lead, they ultimately undermine the intended purpose of these conferences in a vaunted attempt of self-insulation. Leaders in many countries, such as China and the US, see climate change as an issue worth devoting substantial amounts of time and resources into; and if Abbott continues to unduly impinge upon this process, Australia’s relations with leaders in the East and the West could suffer for it.

Kwame Newton is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University, majoring in Government.

Image Attribution: “PM in Australia” by Number 10, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0