G20 latest: Scott Morrison digs in on climate policy, faces criticism over Australia’s net zero plan

A top UK climate change official has criticised Scott Morrison for having ‘no proper program’ to reach net zero, amid fears Glasgow summit ‘won’t deliver’.

Scott Morrison’s net zero plan has been blasted by a top UK climate change adviser.

Lord Deben, the head of the UK’s climate change committee, said there was “no indication” that the Prime Minister had a “proper program” for Australia to reach its new net zero 2050 target.

“It’s very sad that a great country like Australia should change our climate,” he said.

“Because that’s what happens. If you allow people to keep on doing this, it’s our climate as well as theirs that’s changed.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison chats with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian President Narendra Modi in Rome. Picture: Adam Taylor

It came as UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned there was a risk the Glasgow summit “will not deliver”.

“Even if recent pledges were clear and credible - and there are major questions about some of them - we are still careening towards climate catastrophe,” he said.

“For real success, we need ambition and action.”

Lord Deben, a former UK environment minister, said most world leaders were serious about the threat of climate change.

“Not all leaders are like that. I’m afraid that if you look at Scott Morrison from Australia, we’ve squeezed out of him a commitment to net zero in 2050 but there’s no indication at the moment that he’s got a proper program for that,” he said.

He said he would “love to see Australia rejoin the pack”.

PM DIGS IN ON CLIMATE

Australia loomed as a roadblock to several elements of a proposed G20 deal on climate change as the summit kicked off in Rome on Saturday night.

A draft communique for the meeting, obtained by Reuters, would compel countries to take “immediate action” to keep global warming within 1.5C by the end of the century.

Ahead of next week’s Glasgow climate summit, G20 leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also want commitments to phase out coal-fired power and slash methane emissions.

But Scott Morrison has resisted formally lifting Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target and will not support “mandates and bans” he says would harm farming and mining jobs.

“All countries are coming at this task from different places, their economies are different, and as a global community we’ve got to understand that,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Morrison said there were always “all sorts of bits of paper flying around” before such summits, but that Australia’s position was “crystal clear”.

Asked if he was worried Glasgow would be a failure, the Prime Minister said the world would “keep taking steps forward”.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives in Rome for the G20. Picture: Adam Taylor

Prior to the start of the G20, Mr Johnson warned: “Unless we get this right in tackling climate change, we could see our world, our civilisation go backwards and consign future generations to a life far less agreeable than our own.”

The leaders of China, Russia and Japan are not at the G20, further hampering the push for a decisive agreement on climate ahead of Glasgow.

The Australia Institute’s climate program director Richie Merzian said it was time for world leaders to “draw a line in the sand”, saying: “Don’t let Australia cheat on climate change and wreck Glasgow COP26.”

MORRISON URGES WHO TO PROBE PANDEMIC ORIGINS

In his first remarks to the G20, Mr Morrison reinforced the need to identify the origins of the Covid pandemic.

He said the World Health Organisation needed to be more independent and transparent, with the power to “investigate pathogens with pandemic potential” in all countries “without prior approval”.

“We not only need to end this pandemic, we also need to make sure we don’t have another one,” he said on Saturday night.

“This is not about blame, but understanding how it came about.”

AUSTRALIA’S PLANS FOR QUARANTINE-FREE BALI

Australia and Indonesia are working on plans for Aussie tourists to travel to Bali without quarantine.

In talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday night, Mr Morrison said Australians were keen to start travelling again including to Bali.

Officials from both countries are now coordinating arrangements that could enable Australians to bypass the five-day quarantine requirement in Indonesia.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister described the pair’s meeting in Rome as “very warm and friendly”.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison holds a bilateral meeting with the President of the Republic of Indonesia HE Joko Widodo at the G20 in Rome. Picture: Adam Taylor

Mr Joko also backed Mr Morrison’s push for the G20 to tackle harmful content on social media, while they also discussed the importance of low emissions technology to tackle climate change, especially in the developing world.

“There is a shared interest between leaders in getting this right, so developing nations can reduce their emissions while growing their economics and creating more jobs,” Mr Morrison’s spokesman said.

INDONESIA THANKS AUSTRALIA FOR COVID VACCINES

They both warmly embraced in Rome, with the Indonesian President thanking Australia for its vaccine delivery to assist its Covid fight.

Mr Morrison said he was pleased to see Mr Joko for the first time since they were “spotting kangaroos at the Governor-General’s residence” in Australia.

Mr Joko said he was also “very happy to meet you again”, as he welcomed the new ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership with Australia as a way to strengthen their relationship.

He said he appreciated Australia’s vaccine support after 1.2 million doses arrived last week.

Overall, more than 155 million vaccine doses have been administered in Indonesia, with Mr Joko saying the virus situation was now “greatly improved”.

Mr Morrison said that was “very good news”, as he shared that the extended lockdown in Sydney was now “thankfully over” and Australia’s vaccination rate was about to hit 80 per cent.

Mr Morrison said Australia would “do our part” to meet the G20’s global vaccination commitment.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes US President Joe Biden before their meeting at the French Embassy to the Vatican in Rome. Picture: AFP

G20 health and finance ministers earlier agreed to “take all necessary steps” to vaccinate 40 per cent of the world against Covid by the end of this year, and 70 per cent by the middle of next year.

The pair were expected to discuss Australia’s planned acquisition of nuclear-powered weapons, as well as ideas for the G20 to pursue an online safety agenda under Indonesia’s G20 presidency next year.

AUKUS STILL AWKWARD FOR AUSTRALIA

The meeting followed US President Joe Biden telling French counterpart Emmanuel Macron he thought France knew Australia was ripping up its $90bn submarine contract to strike the historic AUKUS defence pact.

In an effort to patch things up, Mr Biden conceded his administration had been “clumsy”.

In his first remarks to the G20, Mr Morrison planned to push for common global principles to hold social media giants accountable and stamp out anonymous bullying online.