Humanitarian diplomat Jamie Isbister named Australia’s new environment ambassador

ENB IISD Bonn UNFCCC climate talks
Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

Foreign minister Marise Payne has announced that Department of Foreign Affairs official Jamie Isbister has been appointed the position of Australian Ambassador for the Environment.

As the Ambassador for the Environment, Isbister will serve as Australia’s chief climate change negotiator and will take on the role in time for the next round of UN climate talks to be held in Madrid, Spain next month.

Isbister’s imminent appointment as the Ambassador for the Environment was flagged by RenewEconomy a couple of weeks ago. The position also carries responsibility for representing Australia in other international forums related to the environment, including sustainable oceans management and UNESCO World Heritage.

Prior to joining the Australian government, Isbister served in several non-governmental roles throughout the Asia Pacific and South East Asia region, including with Caritas International and in several policy positions related to refugee and displaced persons policy.

Heading into the next round of annual international climate talks, Isbister will carry responsibility for ensuring the Morrison government will retain the ability to carry over surplus Kyoto era emissions permits into the Paris Agreement, effectively allowing Australia to rely on a soft 2020 emissions reduction target to further soften its 2030 target.

Isbister replaces Patrick Suckling, who served in the environment ambassador from January 2016, through to his stepping down from the position earlier this year.

As Australia’s chief climate change negotiator, Suckling attracted criticism from climate change campaigners, for appearing on a pro-coal panel convened by representatives of the Trump Administration at the 2018 round of climate change talks in Katowice, in Poland.

Suckling recently wrote, in a relatively optimistic opinion piece, in the Guardian that he remains confident that the necessary solutions to climate change will be found and implemented, and that the sources of political division with respect to climate change are diminishing.

The appointment of Isbister as the Ambassador for the Environment was announced via a statement from foreign minister Marise Payne.

“Mr Isbister will promote Australia’s interests on international environment issues including our efforts to address climate change as part of a coordinated global effort, cooperation on sustainable oceans management and UNESCO World Heritage. Mr Isbister will also lead Australia’s engagement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” Payne said in the statement.

“Key priorities for Mr Isbister will be to strengthen international frameworks and cooperation on the effective global implementation of the Paris Agreement in line with our national interests and to promote Australia’s work to meet our international commitments.”

“Mr Isbister will also lead ongoing efforts to integrate climate change and sustainability into Australia’s official development assistance, including to improve climate and disaster resilience in the Pacific and to enhance climate-related private sector investment in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.”

Isbister comes to the position with a background in humanitarian diplomacy, having originally served with the government’s former overseas aid organisation AusAID before the agency was subsumed into the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Most recently, Isbister served as the first assistant secretary in the Humanitarian, Non-Government Organisations and Partnerships Division of the DFAT and previously served as the minister-counsellor within the Australian High Commission in South Africa.

As yet, there has been no formal announcement of which ministers, if any, will be in attendance at the COP25 round of international climate talks that start in two weeks.

Michael Mazengarb is a Sydney-based reporter with RenewEconomy, writing on climate change, clean energy, electric vehicles and politics. Before joining RenewEconomy, Michael worked in climate and energy policy for more than a decade.

Comments

4 responses to “Humanitarian diplomat Jamie Isbister named Australia’s new environment ambassador”

  1. Glynn Palmer Avatar
    Glynn Palmer

    I wish Mr Isbister bad luck in winning a concession for Australia to carry forward the surplus Kyoto credits.

    Australia’ Kyoto commitment was to limiting increases in net GHG emissions to 108 per cent of its 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012. The National inventory report 2012 (DoE 2014a) demonstrates that Australia surpassed the Kyoto target, with emissions averaging 565 MtCO2-e per year (2008–12), or 103 per cent of the 1990 base level.

    My wish is that Mr Isbister offers the UN climate talks in Madrid a stretch target for Australia to increase its Paris 2030 commitment to 36% below 2005 emissions. The Australian government can achieve this by ramping up the renewable energy target by 2030 to 50%, promoting battery electricity cars, creating a green hydrogen industry with government funds; supplementing green hydrogen in our natural gas pipelines; promoting seaweed feed to reduce the amount of methane cows emit; reducing land clearing and planting more trees; promoting carbon capture in soils; legislating for carbon capture and storage where fugitive emissions are created..

  2. Sunnyside Up Avatar
    Sunnyside Up

    So, they’ve appointed someone who has no experience whatsoever in the area he’s ambassador for. Why doesn’t this surprise me? It is the Coal-ition party, after all. Expect nothing whatsoever and you might get lucky. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

  3. JackD Avatar
    JackD

    Is there no end to this government’s ineptitude!! They’re having a lend of us surely…

  4. ReverseConcaveSpoon Avatar
    ReverseConcaveSpoon

    Tough gig.

Get up to 3 quotes from pre-vetted solar (and battery) installers.