Eleanor Hall reported this story on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 12:22:00

ELEANOR HALL: The Prime Minister Tony Abbot will meet the US president in Washington next week, and politics watchers in the US say there is virtually no chance that the issue of climate change and the new targets that the president announced today won't be raised.



The Australian Prime Minister is also likely to come under more pressure from Barack Obama to put climate change back on the agenda of the G20 meeting that Australia is to host in November.



David Waskow is climate analyst from the World Resources Institute.



He spoke to me from Washington a short time ago.



DAVID WASKOW: This is a major step forward in US climate policy. This is one of, if not the most significant steps that the US can take in terms of regulating carbon emissions.



And, in fact, one can't reach the kinds of targets that the US has committed to without addressing the power plant sector, which is exactly what this new set of proposed regulations would do.



And so, it's really the most significant thing that's happened to date in US climate policy.



ELEANOR HALL: Now president Obama is meeting the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott next week in Washington; trade and strategic issues are on the official agenda, but is there any chance the president won't raise this?



DAVID WASKOW: Well, I think it's likely that president Obama will make clear that he and the United States have a strong commitment to taking action on climate change. He gave a speech last week at the US military academy at West Point, pointing out that this is one of the most significant national security and global security challenges that we face going forward and so he has made abundantly clear that he sees it as something that the United States has to address, but that also requires a global solution and requires global action.



So, I think that it's quite possible that he would in fact raise it and share his views that this is something that has to be a collective effort.



ELEANOR HALL: The US president has already indicated that he wants climate change on the agenda of the G20 meeting that Australia's hosting in November. How diplomatically aggressive would it be to refuse to include an agenda item that had been requested by the president of the US?



DAVID WASKOW: Well, I think the G20 agendas are something that evolve over time and really emerge from a dialogue between the host government and the other governments in the G20.



Whether this appears on the agenda or not, I think it's an issue that the G20 governments and their leaders are going to have to address over time, and have in fact addressed in the past, and so I imagine that, whether it's at that particular meeting or not, I think that there will be continued conversations about how those governments should carry forward their efforts around climate change.



Certainly, as we get closer to the Paris agreement, the agreement that will be struck in Paris at the end of 2015, it would be an opportune time for the leaders to be discussing climate issues and how they're going to jointly tackle them.



ELEANOR HALL: You're suggesting that, even if it's not on the official agenda, it will certainly be discussed by the leaders around the edges of the official meetings?



DAVID WASKOW: Well, the leaders, and many of them will be in New York at the UN for a climate summit that the UN secretary general has called in September. Governments have pledged, as part of the process leading up to an agreement in 2015, to put forward their national contributions, their proposed national contributions next March.



So, this is something that is very much on the minds of leaders, I believe, and is likely to be a concern of theirs, and it would be an important item for them to discuss.



ELEANOR HALL: The president does appear to be wanting to use this new target as a lever to put pressure on the governments of India and China over climate change. Do you think he will also use it to put pressure on Australia to set tighter targets when he meets Australia's Prime Minister next week?



DAVID WASKOW: We know that governments around the world, countries around the world have been looking at what the United States is going to do on these power plants standards as a key element of the United States' readiness to move forward on climate change.



And, the president no doubt sees this as an important part of the way in which his administration can take action, and by doing so, also create an environment globally for other countries to take action.



And, I think Australia certainly is among those that the president would see as a country that should move forward and rather, in the case of Australia, rather than regressing on its climate action, should in fact move forward, in part in response to the actions the United States has taken.



ELEANOR HALL: Australian politicians opposed to emissions trading and other action on climate change have used the argument that we are such a small player that we're irrelevant in the world where countries like China and the US are not acting. To what extent does this US action shift that equation?



DAVID WASKOW: It certainly shows that the US is moving forward and this becomes a collective question of action, and I think there's no question that this is a global challenge and it's going to require a global solution and that everyone needs to do their part.



Some countries obviously have… well countries of varying levels of responsibility, but it doesn't mean that anyone is off the hook, and the question is to what degree countries take action relative to their responsibility for emissions and also their capability to act.



ELEANOR HALL: The leaders of Australia and the United States have traditionally had very cordial relationships, but do you see this becoming a major sticking point if Australia's Prime Minister does not give the US president the sort of positive response that you say he'll be wanting?



DAVID WASKOW: The president, I'm sure, will make clear his desire to move forward. I think the important context, from the president's point of view, and I think the United States' point of view, is likely to be the agreement next year, and the importance of everyone playing a role, a key role in that agreement.



So, that'll be the question that I think is foremost in the Obama administration's mind, and I suspect will be on the table.



The president in his speech at West Point last week said that he saw a global framework on climate change as a key step forward. He said it's part of addressing the security challenges that come because of climate change and, as a result, there needs to be a strong global framework.



And, I think, whether it's in one context or another, the president will certainly have that as a key agenda item and a key priority over the course of the next year and a half.



ELEANOR HALL: David Waskow, thanks so much for joining us.



DAVID WASKOW: Thank you.



ELEANOR HALL: David Waskow is the director of the International Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute in Washington.