Glasgow climate talks off Scott Morrison’s agenda

Scott Morrison has signalled he will not attend the global climate conference in Glasgow next month, declaring ‘what matters is the commitments that we will make’.

Glasgow will host the UN ­Climate Change Conference in November.

Scott Morrison has signalled he will not attend the global climate conference in Glasgow next month, declaring “what matters is the commitments that we will make”.

The Prime Minister said he would be forced to quarantine for 14 days if he went to the UN ­Climate Change Conference, making it hard to engage in his other duties.

He said it would be his fourth time in a two-week quarantine in the past six months, given he has also been to Britain for the G7 and the US for Quad meetings.

“That’s a long time for a prime minister to be in quarantine in a six-month period,” he said.

British high commissioner Vicki Treadell on Wednesday said the Johnson government would be “disappointed” if Mr Morrison was not at the event.

With the government set to ­release a long-term emissions strategy in the next fortnight, Mr Morrison said it was more important “to communicate to Australians what our plan means”.

“Our plan will be important and Australia will always carry its weight when it comes to emissions reduction,” Mr Morrison said.

“There are plenty of countries out there who have lots of a­mbition, but frankly don’t have the performance to back up what Australia can in terms of what we’ve achieved.”

Mr Morrison said the government would prioritise talking to Australians about its climate change policies rather than international leaders.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said an Australian prime minister had gone to a UN climate change conference only three times “in the last 13 or 14 years”.

Greg Brown