PM gives the United Nations a blast in parliament for trying to ratchet Australia up on climate targets

Scott Morrison has identified the United Nations as the multilateral institution responsible for pursuing “negative globalism” – a Trump-like concept the prime minister flagged in a recent foreign policy speech – because the UN wants Australia to increase its ambition on emissions reduction.

But while Morrison gave the UN a blast in parliament on Monday for allegedly ratcheting Australia up, it was actually the current government that agreed to an increase in ambition as part of the Paris framework which Tony Abbott signed Australia onto, and Malcolm Turnbull later ratified.

During the May election campaign, Morrison told Australian voters the Coalition supported the Paris agreement and would conform with its obligations. As the Climate Change Authority has noted, Australia made a specific commitment under the Paris agreement to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by between 26% and 28% below 2005 levels by 2030, and Australia will also need to submit a more ambitious post-2030 goal in 2025 as part of the agreement’s “review, refine and ratchet” mechanism.

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Post-election, as recently as June, Australian officials confirmed the Morrison government was committed to that process. Officials told the European Union – which was querying Australia’s progress in emissions reduction ahead of a meeting in Bonn – that Australia would conduct domestic policy review and refine cycles aligned with the five-yearly review process under the Paris agreement.

Separately to the Paris commitments, Morrison voluntarily signed on to a communique during this year’s Pacific Islands Forum in August saying that all parties to the Paris agreement would “formulate and communicate mid-century long-term low greenhouse gas emissions development strategies by 2020”.

“This may include commitments and strategies to achieve net zero carbon by 2050,” the PIF communique said.

Morrison began to edge away from those two commitments during his recent trip to the US.

The prime minister told parliament on Monday there were “those overseas” who thought Australia’s 2030 target “should be higher” but the government did not agree with that “and neither do the Australian people” because they had returned the Coalition to power in the May election.

“The Australian people … supported the re-election of our government … on the basis of us going forward with a commitment to 26% reduction of emissions,” the prime minister said.

Morrison declared an increase in ambition had been sought “in some correspondence” by the UN – presumably referring to correspondence from the UN secretary general in July asking countries, including Australia, to outline their latest emissions reduction plans.

Guterres, ahead of the special UN climate summit in September that Morrison declined to attend despite being in America at the time, asked leaders to flag commitments for 2030 and their plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Last week, the minister for emissions reduction, Angus Taylor, ducked questions about what “negative globalism” meant in the context of Australia’s participation in international climate negotiations, and sidestepped questions about Australia’s emissions reduction strategy for 2050.

Asked what Morrison’s commitment at the Pacific Islands Forum meant, Taylor said the government was focused currently on the Paris commitments, not the next cycle. “Our immediate focus is on the 2030 Paris obligation. Our focus right now is on achieving the 2030 targets.”

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Before Morrison’s comments in the House on Monday, Alex Hawke, the minister for international development and the Pacific, defended the government’s climate change record, declaring the Coalition was responding to the “substantial threat” facing the region.

But Hawke said that some in the media acted “more as advocates and protesters” rather than on reporting – echoing a similar critique from Morrison last month. The prime minister said people expressed “prejudiced” views about Australia’s climate policy, and he added: “Now where do they get their information from? Who knows, maybe they read it.”

Hawke said Monday: “I accept fully that I think it is the fault of the Australian government that we have not done enough to promote what Australia is doing on climate change in the Pacific, and I think you will see more from this government speaking directly to ... the Australian public about what it is we are doing.”

He also said the Australian government was doing “more than anyone else” on climate change. “The tenor of our discussion with our partner countries is very positive about climate change and I think we are all aware in 2019, as we are all aware about the threat of populism, the threats of protectionism .... we are also aware of the inadequacies I think of the international press sometimes on some of these issues,” Hawke said.