Tony Abbott running out of places to hide on envirnoment
Editorial
Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a press conference at the conclusion of the G20 in Brisbane. Photo: Andrew Meares
Five years after declaring that the argument behind climate
science was "absolute crap" – and four months after proudly repealing
Labor's carbon tax – Tony Abbott this week stated that strong and
binding emissions reductions targets must be set at next year's climate
conference in Paris. And he warned that the world could not afford
another disappointment like the Copenhagen summit in 2009. That
statement, which followed a meeting with French President Francois
Hollande, raised conjecture that Mr Abbott was – if not the throes of
a Damascene conversion – then subtly shifting his position from
leaner in chief of the developed world to willing, even enthusiastic
lifter. "Targets have to be met," Mr Abbott warned, "and when it comes
to Kyoto, Australia more than met its reduction targets, and that can't
be said of other countries."
When Mr Abbott gave his blunt assessment of climate change,
he qualified it by saying "however, the politics of this are tough for
us". They have been especially tough of late. In a speech in Brisbane
last week, US President Barack Obama declared that no other country
had more at stake when it came to thinking about and acting on climate
change than Australia. "The incredible natural glory of the Great
Barrier Reef is threatened," he said, adding that he wanted it protected
so that he could visit the reef again, and later generations could
come and see it. Shortly after the G20 summit ended, Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper appeared to abandon his opposition to making
a contribution to the United Nations' Green Climate Fund – a position
shared with Mr Abbott. To add insult to injury, a group of senior
British Conservative politicians (including Minister for Energy Greg
Barker) suggested late this week that Mr Abbott's position on climate
change was "baffling" and a betrayal not just of the fundamental
tenets of political conservatism but of the beliefs of former prime
minister Margaret Thatcher – who Mr Abbott identifies as a political
guiding light and who in 1988 became one of the first global leaders to
identify climate change as a threat.
Mr Abbott's growing international isolation on this crucial
environmental matter has not deterred his cheer squad at home,
however. Media commentators rebuked Mr Obama for his "impertinence"
in not informing Mr Abbott beforehand about the contents of his
speech. And, efforts may well be made to impugn the reputations of the
Conservative MPs who took Mr Abbot to task, though there is nothing to
suggest that they are anything other than competent politicians with a
good grasp of the science of climate change and an appreciation of the
need for an appropriate environmental policy response.
Earlier this week Foreign Minister Julie Bishop contradicted
the president's claims about threat to the Great Barrier Reef,
suggesting that Australia was employing world's best practice to ensure
the reef was preserved for future generations. Paradoxically, the Abbott
government has been an enthusiastic advocate for the enlargement of
the Abbot Point coal terminal north of Mackay, in spite of fears the
dumping of dredge spoil will further degrade the reef. Indeed, the
Australian Academy of Science has cast doubt over the efficacy of
overarching environmental safeguards, suggesting that the reef's 2050
long-term sustainability plan will be inadequate to achieve the goal of
restoring or even maintaining the diminished value of the reef.
Mr Abbott would now realise that there are fewer places for
him (and Australia) to hide on climate change. If the support of his
brother prime minister in Canada evaporates, then he will be standing
side by side with Libya, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Egypt,
the last remaining climate-change holdouts. Such an unappealing prospect
might well explain the shift in his remarks after meeting Mr Hollande.
Having made outright opposition to effective climate change
measures a central pillar of his political success, Mr Abbott faces an
awkward task in transitioning to a more responsible and constructive
attitude. But transition he must. There will be an economic cost, but
it won't be as great as he and his supporters think, particularly as
Australia's emissions target under the original Kyoto Protocol are
hardly onerous. And what jobs are lost are more than likely to be offset
by those created as a result of investment in new technologies.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a press conference at the conclusion of the G20 in Brisbane. Photo: Andrew Meares
Five years after declaring that the argument behind climate
science was "absolute crap" – and four months after proudly repealing
Labor's carbon tax – Tony Abbott this week stated that strong and
binding emissions reductions targets must be set at next year's climate
conference in Paris. And he warned that the world could not afford
another disappointment like the Copenhagen summit in 2009. That
statement, which followed a meeting with French President Francois
Hollande, raised conjecture that Mr Abbott was – if not the throes of
a Damascene conversion – then subtly shifting his position from
leaner in chief of the developed world to willing, even enthusiastic
lifter. "Targets have to be met," Mr Abbott warned, "and when it comes
to Kyoto, Australia more than met its reduction targets, and that can't
be said of other countries."
When Mr Abbott gave his blunt assessment of climate change,
he qualified it by saying "however, the politics of this are tough for
us". They have been especially tough of late. In a speech in Brisbane
last week, US President Barack Obama declared that no other country
had more at stake when it came to thinking about and acting on climate
change than Australia. "The incredible natural glory of the Great
Barrier Reef is threatened," he said, adding that he wanted it protected
so that he could visit the reef again, and later generations could
come and see it. Shortly after the G20 summit ended, Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper appeared to abandon his opposition to making
a contribution to the United Nations' Green Climate Fund – a position
shared with Mr Abbott. To add insult to injury, a group of senior
British Conservative politicians (including Minister for Energy Greg
Barker) suggested late this week that Mr Abbott's position on climate
change was "baffling" and a betrayal not just of the fundamental
tenets of political conservatism but of the beliefs of former prime
minister Margaret Thatcher – who Mr Abbott identifies as a political
guiding light and who in 1988 became one of the first global leaders to
identify climate change as a threat.
Mr Abbott's growing international isolation on this crucial
environmental matter has not deterred his cheer squad at home,
however. Media commentators rebuked Mr Obama for his "impertinence"
in not informing Mr Abbott beforehand about the contents of his
speech. And, efforts may well be made to impugn the reputations of the
Conservative MPs who took Mr Abbot to task, though there is nothing to
suggest that they are anything other than competent politicians with a
good grasp of the science of climate change and an appreciation of the
need for an appropriate environmental policy response.
Earlier this week Foreign Minister Julie Bishop contradicted
the president's claims about threat to the Great Barrier Reef,
suggesting that Australia was employing world's best practice to ensure
the reef was preserved for future generations. Paradoxically, the Abbott
government has been an enthusiastic advocate for the enlargement of
the Abbot Point coal terminal north of Mackay, in spite of fears the
dumping of dredge spoil will further degrade the reef. Indeed, the
Australian Academy of Science has cast doubt over the efficacy of
overarching environmental safeguards, suggesting that the reef's 2050
long-term sustainability plan will be inadequate to achieve the goal of
restoring or even maintaining the diminished value of the reef.
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Mr Abbott would now realise that there are fewer places for
him (and Australia) to hide on climate change. If the support of his
brother prime minister in Canada evaporates, then he will be standing
side by side with Libya, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Egypt,
the last remaining climate-change holdouts. Such an unappealing prospect
might well explain the shift in his remarks after meeting Mr Hollande.
Having made outright opposition to effective climate change
measures a central pillar of his political success, Mr Abbott faces an
awkward task in transitioning to a more responsible and constructive
attitude. But transition he must. There will be an economic cost, but
it won't be as great as he and his supporters think, particularly as
Australia's emissions target under the original Kyoto Protocol are
hardly onerous. And what jobs are lost are more than likely to be offset
by those created as a result of investment in new technologies.
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