Labor’s gas plan irks Pacific leaders ahead of forum
Anthony Albanese’s plan to expand natural gas production will come under fire at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga this week.
Anthony Albanese’s plan to expand natural gas production will come under fire at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga this week, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will pile pressure on rich nations to commit to a faster phase-out of fossil fuels.
The Prime Minister will arrive in Tonga on Tuesday night - a day after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake north of the capital, Nuku’alofa, was interpreted by some attendees as a call to action by Mother Nature.
“These natural disasters are reminders from nature that we are so tiny,” French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson said of the earthquake that left the host nation undamaged.
“They command us to look at our resilience and the capacity that we can develop together.”
Mr Albanese said ahead of his departure that Australia understood “climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of Pacific Island communities”. But the government’s Future Gas Strategy, released in May, alarmed many Pacific leaders with its commitment to opening up new gas fields and confirmation the fuel would play a crucial role in the nation’s energy mix “to 2050 and beyond”.
Vanuatu, Fiji and the Marshall Islands are expected to lead the pushback against Australia’s energy policies, two years after Mr Albanese joined regional leaders in Fiji to declare a climate emergency in the Pacific.
Mr Guterres told the forum’s opening ceremony on Monday the region’s ambition for a fossil fuel-free Pacific was a blueprint for the world, but would require a fresh commitment from big economies including Australia.
“The biggest emitters must step up and lead, by phasing out production and consumption of fossil fuels and stopping their expansion immediately,” he said. “When governments sign new oil and gas licences, they are signing away our future.”
Mr Guterres is expected to release new research by the World Meteorological Organisation showing the effects of climate change in the South West Pacific are accelerating, placing island nations in danger.
Tongan climate campaigner Joseph Sikulu, from 350.org, said the Future Gas Strategy was “a huge disappointment”, and the region’s leaders would press Australia again for a commitment to end fossil fuel extraction.
“The hard thing is that Australia has so much leverage and so much power when it comes to diplomacy (within the forum), especially chequebook diplomacy and finances, that sometimes it can water down the ambition that is actually needed and that our leaders are actually pushing for,” he said.
Labor’s plans for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and a 43 per cent cut by 2030, have bolstered the country’s climate credentials in the region. But Climate Council fellow Wesley Morgan said forum members would be dismayed that Australia was committed to tapping new gas fields for another three decades.
“Pacific leaders will be wanting to show a picture to the world of a region that is moving away from fossil fuels, and they’ll be very disappointed that Australia, as the largest member of the Pacific Islands Forum, continues to promote new fossil fuels,” he said.
Earlier, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine told the ABC that Australia’s planned expansion of fossil fuel extraction was “contrary to the notion that we are all going forward”.
“I believe PM Albanese is very clear about our position and where we are coming from. We hope that he will be sympathetic, that he will be listening to our issues and will eventually take some action in the direction that we’re hoping for,” she said in a recent interview.
“We are looking to Australia to demonstrate the leadership we need, particularly around fossil fuels … as a member of the G20 Australia should be leading the way in transitioning away from fossil fuels, not developing any further fossil fuel projects.”
Meanwhile, Australian officials are preparing for a push by Solomon Islands at the forum to strip Taiwan of its PIF observer status.
As The Australian reported on Monday, the pro-Beijing Pacific state wants to bar Taiwan from participating in next year’s forum, to be held in Honiara.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said: “Australia values our ongoing co-ordination with other development partners in the Pacific, including Taiwan, to maximise programs that respond to Pacific priorities.”
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