Hosting UN climate talks could help mend Australia’s Pacific relationships, Albanese says

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has had early success rehabilitating Australia’s reputation on climate action with European and North American peers – but he faces a tougher test in restoring faith amongst Pacific neighbours.

The next Pacific Islands Forum will be held in Fiji next week, and Albanese will be eager to send a signal that Australia is ‘back at the table’ when it comes to both climate change and engagement with the Pacific region, leaving the combative approach of the former Morrison government in the past.

Scott Morrison’s approach to climate change – which included efforts to water down communiques at previous meetings of the Pacific Islands Forum to exclude language around fossil fuel phase outs – left Pacific leaders dismayed, soured relationships and created an opening for China to build its regional influence.

Addressing media after a bilateral meeting with New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday, Albanese said he expected the new Labor government’s climate commitments to be welcomed at the forthcoming meeting of Pacific Islands leaders – including a potential joint bid with Pacific neighbours to host a future round of the United Nations climate talks.

“Whether it’s in the Pacific or when I have been meeting with Europe or president Biden, it’s been noticed around the world that Australia is now a participant in the constructive action that is required globally to deal with the challenge of climate change,” Albanese said.

“I believe that our changed position will be very much welcomed in the Pacific. We have a clear commitment that we have a mandate for; of a floor of 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.”

“That is something that will see, domestically, a massive increase in the percentage of energy produced by renewables, and it is a position as well that enables us to engage on climate change in the region, not the least of which, is Australia’s bid to host a future conference of the parties on climate change.”

“That’s something that we have said we will host, in partnership with the Pacific, as a joint bid, and I’ll be having those discussions in Fiji. We intended to go ahead with the bid and how we bring in Pacific Island states to ensure that they can be engaged and involved, is something that I believe will be welcomed,” Albanese added.

In a joint statement following their bilateral meeting, Albanese and Ardern said they would establish annual meetings of climate change ministers to progress cooperation on climate action.

The two prime ministers also acknowledged that climate change is the ‘single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific’ and that they recognised an ‘urgent need’ for countries to keep global warming to just 1.5 degrees.

“The Prime Ministers noted with utmost concern that human activities have caused around 1.1 degrees of global warming to date, and emphasised the urgent need for all nations to collectively reduce emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees,” the joint statement says.

“Prime Ministers acknowledged climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific. They discussed the need to deliver effective climate finance and address climate adaptation in the region.

“They recognised the importance of working together in order to accelerate climate action and support the ambitions of Pacific island countries to lower greenhouse gas emissions and increase climate resilience.”

It is language that was unthinkable under the former Morrison government, and shows the extent to which Albanese wants to demonstrate to Pacific region neighbours that Australia is re-engaging with the challenge of climate change.

Climate change poses an existential risk to many Pacific Island nations, with rising sea-levels and increasingly extreme weather events already having devastating impacts, yet faced a Morrison-led Australian government that sought to protect Australia’s fossil fuel industries and to diminish its responsibility to lead international efforts to cut emissions.

Senior researcher at the Climate Council, Dr Wesley Morgan, said that the Pacific Islands Forum will expect Albanese to make clear that Australia is re-committed to treating climate change as a serious regional challenge, and is likely to face pressure to further strengthen emissions reduction targets and commitments to fund climate resilient infrastructure across the region.

“Australia will need to show Pacific countries that it is serious about climate action, both by cutting emissions at home and working with the rest of the Pacific to drive global cuts in emissions this decade,” Morgan said.

“In a warming world, climate policy is foreign policy. Under the previous federal government, Australia’s failure to act on climate change undermined our national security – nowhere is that more evident than the Pacific.”

“The Pacific Islands Forum is a crucial moment for the Albanese Government to reset relations with strategically important Pacific nations, and prove itself as a climate leader.”

The Albanese government will also host the Sydney Energy Forum next week – which is being co-hosted with the International Energy Agency – brining together government and business leaders to discuss the development of clean energy industries and supply chains across the Indo-Pacific region.