The climate wars in Australia have scaled up dramatically. On one side of politics there is not even the slightest pretence that they believe or will ever act on the science, or even sound engineering and economics. The shadow boxing is done with. Now it’s a pitched battle.
Australia on Wednesday voted in favour of a landmark United Nations resolution – spearheaded by its Pacific island neighbours – that strengthens state responsibility to act on climate change.
Most notably, the 193-member global body endorsed an opinion provided by the world’s top court that warns a failure to curb fossil fuel production might constitute an “internationally wrongful act”.
It’s a remarkable development that is worthy of further explanation, but it’s also worth noting what was being urged by the new Coalition leader and former energy minister Angus Taylor at the Australian Energy Producers Conference in Adelaide, a gathering of mostly coal, gas and oil producers.
Taylor, who has promised to scrap Australia’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2050, and tear up key policies and agencies that support the rollout of wind and solar, urged the fossil fuel industry to “fight like hell”, which is exactly where Australia is heading if climate change continues unabated.
“We are going to have to fight like hell,” Taylor said. “That’s where we are at now. This is bare-knuckle politics.”
Taylor also urged the fossil fuel industry to flood social media with their messages, perhaps unaware that the fossil fuel industry already does so. In the US, it spends billions a year, outstripping the clean energy industry by a factor of more than 20 to one.
“You need to start making noise,” Taylor said. “You need to use every campaign tool at your disposal – especially social media. Push back against your detractors.
In the world that is being badly damaged by the continued burning of fossil fuels, and the failure to do enough about cutting emissions, activists are taking a different tack.
As AAP reports, hard-fought legal opinion endorsed by Australia at the UN stems from an International Court of Justice ruling delivered in July 2025, and which was first conceived by a group of Pacific students and initially sponsored by Vanuatu.
“This must be a turning point in accountability for damaging the climate,” said Vishal Prasad, one of the students who instigated the ICJ advisory opinion.
“Communities on the frontlines, like in the Pacific, have been waiting far too long and continue to pay too high a price for the actions of others,” said the director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change.
Australia’s Labor government, for all its renewable and climate targets, is still supporting fossil fuels on a major scale, and has refused entreaties to impose a tax on fossil fuel “super profits” or even cap diesel rebates for huge miners.
Australia-based Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said the ruling left the federal government’s stance on fossil fuel exports exposed.
“While the government is ramping up renewable power, it is still giving fossil fuel giants a free ride,” she said.
“Continuing to wave through massive new coal and gas projects puts our kids’ future at risk and is now clearly against international law.”
Australia, which has been pursuing significant domestic emissions cuts with ambitious renewables targets but remains a major exporter of coal and gas, voted in favour of the resolution.
Other big fossil fuel producers, including the United States, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, opposed the measure.
Australia was not among the 69 resolution co-sponsors leading into the vote, however, making it and New Zealand the only Pacific nations missing from the list.
Australia holds a key president of negotiations role heading into the next Conference of the Parties climate change talks to be held in Turkey, with Fiji and Tuvalu set to hold official pre-event meetings.
The UN General Assembly resolution formally reaffirms the ICJ’s findings and urges governments to align policies with limiting global warming to 1.5C. It also urges nations in violation to provide reparation for damage and calls for the regulation of fossil fuel companies.
