Albanese won't attend climate summit. Does it matter?
Greta Thunberg says climate summits are a chance for "big polluters to greenwash themselves".
Greta Thunberg says climate summits are a chance for "big polluters to greenwash themselves".
Anthony Albanese will be absent from the United Nations climate change summit in Egypt starting on Sunday.
He says he is precluded from the COP27 by a "busy schedule" at home and overseas, and suggests Australia is in a different position than it was when Scott Morrison officially committed to a 2050 net-zero target in 2021.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Assistant Minister Jenny McAllister will be sent in his place.
At last year's summit in Glasgow, close to 200 countries said they would "strengthen" 2030 emissions reduction plans by the end of 2022. Only about 12% had filed plans, according to the UN.
What is the COP27?
The COP27 is an annual United Nations (UN) climate change summit. This year it will be held in Sharm El-Eheikh in Egypt from November 6 to 18, and next year it will be held in Dubai.
More than 35,000 delegates and more than 100 world leaders are expected to attend this year.
It was first held in Berlin in 1995 after a suite of nations ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to address "dangerous human interference with the climate system".
What happens at the COP27?
The main goal of this year's summit is in dispute, although "climate justice" is the key theme, according to the United Nations.
Developing countries want wealthy nations to give them money to respond to climate-related disasters, including relocating homes impacted by rising sea levels. These nations also want to see a fund created to support them as they lose out on economic opportunities due to extreme weather events like floods.
Wealthy countries aren't committing to this and would prefer to focus on supporting developing nations transition to renewable energy.
The international energy crisis will also likely blanket discussions as countries in Europe are forced to develop new gas projects (and abandon their climate goals) to replace Russian deliveries.
Who will be there?
- US President Joe Biden
- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Italy’s new prime minister Georgia Meloni
- European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
Why won't Albanese be at COP27?
He will be in Parliament mostly.
The COP27 is in the middle of two parliamentary sitting weeks. After that, he will attend the East Asia Summit in Cambodia (November 14), the G20 Summit in Bali (November 15 to 16), and the Asia-Pacific Co-operation summit (November 16 to 18) in Thailand.
"I can't be in all places at once ... And I'm sure that if I was going people would say why aren't I attending Parliament," Mr Albanese told reporters in Adelaide this week.
"I'll be meeting all the leaders of the twenty largest economies in the world at the G20 in Bali."
"I have a very busy schedule of Parliament, then the international conferences, then back to Parliament again. Making sure that our agenda gets through and that includes our agenda on clean energy and taking action on climate change."
Last year Mr Albanese criticised Scott Morrison's hesitancy to attend the COP26, which he did eventually commit to attending two weeks before the event.
Scott Morrison has been absent from the debate on climate change globally.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 11, 2021
It would be a pity if he was also absent from the Glasgow conference.
This week, as he defended his absence, he claimed this government was in a different position than Scott Morrison was last year as they scrambled to get the Coalition to adopt the 2050 target.
In September this year, the Albanese government made the 43% medium-term emissions reduction target law when the bill passed through Parliament 86 votes to 50.
"We've already advanced our changed policy in the Conference of the Parties (COP)."
"My criticism of the former government was that they went to a conference, gave an empty speech to an empty room that didn't commit to anything new."
"And it probably would have been better off if they hadn't have gone at all, because it just exposed to the world that Australia wasn't stepping up at a time where other global leaders were," he said.
Greta Thunberg won't be attending?
No, she won't be. And she did have something to say about others who aren't keen on intending.
New Conservative British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak intended to evade the summit due to "pressing domestic commitments" but U-turned following backlash from colleagues and the announcement that 'climate King' Charles could not attend but would hold a "pre-COP" reception for environmentalists.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg called the COP27 a "scam" on the ABC's 7:30 program on Thursday night, after previously criticising Mr Sunak for planning to skip the event.
She said climate summits "serve as an opportunity for big polluters to greenwash themselves … using PR tactics and communication strategies disguised as politics".
"The way that COP27 would, for me, be considered a success or a step forward would be that more people realise what a scam it actually is."
Although Mr Albanese hasn't received much criticism at home for missing the summit, the UK debate has centred around the importance of attending the event in person. Even more so seeing as Mr Sunak's own sister, Raakhi Williams, was responsible for the high-profile guest list at last year's summit in Glasgow and stressed "how important it was that people attend the event in person."
What were the results of last year's summit?
Last year, close to 200 countries said they would "strengthen" 2030 emissions reduction plans by the end of 2022. Yet only about 12% had filed plans.
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