Time for a new UN Secretary-General? Next from scolding the entire G20 for failing the sacred 1.5C climate missiongeneral secretary António Guterres criticized Australia for not keeping up with the climate efforts of other G20 nations.
UN Secretary-General says Australia is ‘the leader’ for refusing to do more on climate change
The United Nations Secretary-General has branded Australia a “headline” for refusing to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions this decade.
Published March 22, 2022 at 8:17 am
Source: AAPThe United Nations Secretary-General has called Australia a “shelter” after Scott Morrison refused to step up to the nation’s 2030 emissions reduction target.
António Guterres used a speech at a sustainability summit to give an unusual public assessment of Australia’s climate change efforts.
“A growing number of G20 advanced economies have announced meaningful emissions cuts by 2030 – with some holding, such as Australia,” he said.
He said the Paris climate accord’s ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius was “life-supporting” but there was still something that could save it.
“Keeping 1.5 alive requires a 45% reduction in global emissions by 2030 and a carbon neutrality by mid-century. That issue has not been resolved in Glasgow,” said the head of the UN.
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Read more: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-a-holdout-on-climate-un-chief/jzufkwmqw
Sadly, Guterres could meet Australia.
The governing Australian Conservative Union, despite my frequent criticisms, has so far resisted calls for a complete shutdown of coal, is not doing well in the polls and could lose the coalition. Green Labor Alliance in this year’s federal election.
Their Labor Party opponents seem genuinely committed to shutting down coal and much of the rest of the Australian economy in the name of the climate crisis, in contrast to the mostly empty green view. hollow of the current governing coalition, and frequently relies on Green Party support to form governments. So even if Labor wins an outright majority in this year’s federal election, it is likely to want to stay closed, in case they need it again in the future.
Even if the coalition somehow gets through and wins, senior figures in the governing coalition, like the federal treasurer Josh Frydenbergseems to be fully integrated with Net Zero and the green hydrogen revolution for the economically illiterateand maybe convince colleagues to do something radical as part of a desperate attempt to save their political face.
So it looks like tough times are ahead for Australia whichever major party wins the next election.
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