Australia to face climate pressure at CHOGM
Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong will be pressed by Pacific nations this week about Australia’s fossil fuel exports.
Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will be urged by Pacific nations to curtail fossil fuel exports at a meeting of Commonwealth leaders in Samoa this week, experts predict, with the focus on climate change action at the forum to be bolstered by the attendance of King Charles III.
It is the first time the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will take on a Pacific Island, prompting the Albanese government to prioritise supporting Samoa in the island nation’s calls for collective action on climate change and through providing resources such as police to help manage the event.
“We welcome Samoa’s leadership to elevate Pacific priorities and voices on the international stage,” Senator Wong told The Australian.
“Australia and Samoa are focused on collective efforts to address climate change and the sustainable management of our oceans.”
More than 3000 delegates from 56 Commonwealth countries will attend the event, including the king, who has long supported stronger action on climate change.
Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland said CHOGM 2024 came “at a defining moment in our history, when the effects of climate change are no longer distant threats”.
“I am confident the decisions our leaders will make together at this CHOGM will have a profound and durable impact on the wellbeing of our people and the planet,” she said in a statement earlier this month.
Wesley Morgan, research associate for UNSW’s climate program, said while the Prime Minister would have “a good story to tell” on Australia’s progress towards net zero, including its renewable energy plan, he would need to “be able to explain to Pacific leaders how Australia plans to transition away from our fossil fuel exports”.
Australia’s total resource and energy export earnings reached $466bn in 2022–23, falling to $415bn in 2023–24, with coal and iron ore making up about 30 per cent and 20 per cent of that respectively.
Pacific nations have been ratcheting up pressure on countries like Australia to do more to address climate change, with ministers from six Pacific countries last year calling for a global treaty to phase out coal and gas.
Senator Wong is expected to take part in meetings with other foreign ministers on Thursday, while Mr Albanese is due to meet Pacific leaders on Friday.
Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said he expected CHOGM would be “uncomfortable for Mr Albanese” in the wake of such pressure, with Labor also facing calls domestically from the Greens and other left-leaning groups ahead of the next election to halt fossil fuel expansion.
Ahead of Australia’s leaders touching down in Samoa, AustralianSuper revealed it had signed a memorandum of understanding with 20 funds across the Pacific to “share knowledge”.
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