Albanese government called to action over ‘biggest security threat’

Anthony Albanese will be confronted with repairing some of Australia’s most important relationships, but to do so he must take drastic action.

Australia must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 to curb the “existential threat” climate change poses.

A fresh report from the Climate Council, released ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji next week, listed climate change as the biggest strategic threat to the Pacific.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won the election with a 43 per cent target but the Council says that’s not enough.

Lead author Wesley Morgan said if the government wants to position itself as the key security partner for Pacific Island nations, it needs to go “harder and faster”.

“This is a crucially important meeting because it comes in the shadow of increasingly intense geostrategic competition between China and the United States,” Dr Morgan said.

“So security will be high on the agenda for the forum … (especially) because Pacific Island countries themselves are deeply concerned about security.

“For decades the Pacific has lobbied the global community to understand that climate change is a threat to their nations akin to war.”

Anthony Albanese will attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji next week where he will be confronted with taking more drastic action to prevent irreversible outcomes from the climate crisis. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

Without immediate and urgent action from the global community, Pacific Island nations face severe and irreversible changes, the report said.

Australia has committed to co-hosting a UN Climate summit in partnership with the Pacific.

But the former prime minister of Tuvalu said Australia needed to prove itself first.

“To garner the trust of Pacific Island countries, the new government must show that they are serious, and are truthful to the words … that they are going to take concrete, practical and meaningful actions,” Enele Sopoaga said.

“For far too long past Australian federal governments have shown a rather deaf ear to the concern and the voices of Pacific Island countries.”

Former Tuvalu prime minister Enele Sopoaga pictured with former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison at the last Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvulu in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

He said while he was encouraged by the Albanese government’s words, if the Pacific is to trust them, it needed to aim higher on emission reduction targets.

The report also called for Australia to “end its love affair with coal and gas”.

In a joint statement, a group of former Pacific leaders including Mr Sopoaga, former President of the Republic of Kiribati Anote Tong, former President of the Marshall Islands Hilda Heine and former President of Palau Thomas Remengesa said the report was a “must read”.

“The latest assessments are clear: global emissions must be halved during this decade. There is no room for new coal and gas,” they said.

Mr Sopoaga says Australia needs to earn back the trust of Pacific nations in order to be their primary security partner, and protect them from climate disasters. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Originally published as Albanese government called to action over ‘biggest security threat’