The Abbott government has taken some international heat over its climate efforts. Credit:Jacky Ghossein "It will not stop at the Pacific Islands."



The German leader also pressed Australia to reveal its post-2020 goal for cutting carbon emissions "by the first quarter [of 2015] at the very latest", to give time for the UN's Paris Summit at the end of next year to secure binding emission cuts for all states. So far, the Abbott government has only said it would reveal its post-2020 goal next year. Last week, foreign minister Julie Bishop said the target would be released in the first half of 2015. Europe's goals The European Union last month agreed on a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2030.

Bondi climate change protesters bury their heads in the sand ahead of the weekend's G20 meeting. Credit:Dallas Kilponen In June, though, the German government conceded it would fall short of its own target to slice 1990-level emissions by 40 per cent by 2020, saying that a 33 per cent reduction was more likely. One hindrance has been Germany's decision to phase out nuclear energy by 2022 in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011, prompting a rush for alternative energy sources including coal-fired power. Australia's bipartisan target is for a 5 per cent cut of 2000 emissions by 2020. Since Australia's carbon emissions were about the same in 1990 as 2000, Australia's ambitions to 2020 are relatively modest compared with Europe's. Global challenges

Climate change knows no borders. It will not stop at the Pacific Islands. German Chancellor Angela Merkel Mrs Merkel spoke at length about other issues facing the global community, including maintaining pressure on Russia to end its support for pro-Russia separatists fighting in Ukraine, and its breach of international law in annexing the Crimea earlier this year. The German leader also praised Australia's "steadfast efforts" in securing UN support for humanitarian efforts in Syria and Iraq. She said that Europe wanted all Asian nations to become open and pluralistic, even though such a path may be "steep and stony". "Wherever Europe can help support countries travelling down this road we will gladly do so," she said.

"We [want] to see to it that this rise of the states of Asia happens as peacefully and without any sort of sharp ruptures." The East and South China seas are the scene of escalating territorial disputes between China and its neighbours, particularly Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. The first step towards a peaceful and stable region is for bigger countries in Asia to be "ready to compromise" and engage in dialogue, she said. "This can lead to possibilities of settling conflicts, for example, maritime territorial disputes here in the region," she said. "All sides are called upon to carry out confidence-building measures in order to avoid a further escalation of matters that will then be unpredictable."

'Trench warfare' Prime Minister Tony Abbott says his government accepts that climate change is occurring and has plans to spend $2.5 billion on its "direct action" plan to pay polluters to cut back emissions. However, the Australian government would not be joining the US, Japan, Germany and other nations in supporting the $US10 billion ($11.4 billion) Green Climate Fund to support poorer nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada and a close friend of Mr Abbott's, broke ranks with Australia and is preparing to contribute to the fund, Canadian media have reported. The Abbott government reportedly engaged in "trench warfare" to diminish the prominence of climate change in the final communique of this weekend's G20 summit.

US President Barack Obama added to the pressure outside the leaders' talks with a call in a speech on Saturday at the University of Queensland for young people to step up their demands on political leaders to do more to halt climate change. French President Francois Hollande said failure to address global warming could lead to war, and called on G20 countries to act ahead of a climate change conference in Paris next year. "We will meet again in Paris to sign a global agreement that will prevent the planet from experiencing global warming of as much as three or four degrees [Celsius], which could lead to catastrophe, if not war," Mr Hollande said, according to Reuters. "One way to prevent conflicts and catastrophe is by taking decisions," Mr Hollande said. Coal comfort

Mr Abbott, though, defended his government's actions including its promotion of coal, a relatively emissions-intensive fossil fuel. "A fifth of the globe don't have access to electricity. We've got to give them access to electricity and coal is going to be an important part of that for decades to come," he said at the end of the weekend summit. Mr Abbott said that, even under the climate pact struck between China and the United States last week, "80 per cent of China's power needs in 2030 will be provided by coal", possibly confusing China's 2030 goal. China last week said it would seek to secure 20 per cent of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources, implying that the remaining 80 per cent would be from coal, gas and oil. Last month, a former adviser to Mrs Merkel on climate policy attacked Australia's complacency on global warming, describing the Abbott government's championing of the coal industry as an economic "suicide strategy".

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber said most countries had given up on Australia setting tougher targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the country was now viewed alongside Canada as not contributing its fair share to global efforts to reduce climate change. Professor Schellnhuber, co-chairman of the German Advisory Council on Global Change, was dismissive of the Abbott government's direct action policy,describing it as "weak", Fairfax Media reported last month. With Reuters, AAP