From climate laggard to lead negotiator. What a difference a year can make.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Australia's new Labor government has a spring in its step after a stellar turn on the world stage at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt.
As far as rebranding exercises go, observers say COP27 couldn't have gone any better for the Albanese regime.
It went into the talks declaring "Australia is back" after a decade of climate inaction under the former Morrison government.
By the tail end of the event, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen had been asked to take over struggling negotiations about how to fund climate financing in developing nations.
It was one of many sweet moments for Australia at COP27.
There was high praise from US climate envoy John Kerry, who said Mr Bowen had demonstrated "the difference an election makes", adding the new government had stepped up in a remarkable ways.
And Pacific nations backed in Australia's bid to co-host the 2026 summit, albeit with a warning from Vanuatu that its support depends on Australia halting funding for new fossil fuel developments.
It was every bit the warm welcome Australia had hoped for despite the government offering little new.
"We knew about the global methane pledge, we knew about the bidding to host the COP. A lot of what has been announced was pre-announced," said University of Melbourne Professor Jackie Peel, who's written reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
"We haven't heard any big commitments around financing, on adaptation.
"And Australia seems to have secured support from Pacific countries to bid to host the COP without publicly putting anything on the table about loss and damage funding, even though that's a key issue for the Pacific."
Prof Peel said there was always going to be goodwill shown toward the government, which is just six months into the job.
"We're a good climate guy now. We've upped our targets, were working with others collaboratively, and we're paving the way to be a superpower, a renewable energy, clean, green nation."
But she warns the change of heart is unlikely to extend to the next COP28 gathering in Dubai in December 2023, when Labor will be almost half way through its term.
All eyes will be on what it does in the 12 months between now and then, including the critical pressure point of what changes or doesn't on government support for new fossil fuel projects.
Vanuatu's climate change minister Ralph Regenvanu has described the Albanese government as a breath of fresh air but he's also threatened to drum up Pacific opposition to Australia's co-hosting aspirations if the government keeps subsidising such projects.
When asked on Friday if there was a moral imperative for Australia to stop opening new coal and gas fields, Mr Bowen skirted the question.
"There's a moral imperative for Australia to act on climate change," he replied.
He also said it was too soon to commit Australian funds to a new loss and damage mechanism - one of the Pacific region's big asks.
The mechanism would see developed countries help developing ones pay for the destruction climate change is causing.
Mr Bowen has made much of Australia's support to ensure the loss and damage issue was on the COP27 agenda, but he's consistently said this year's summit was never meant to talk about who would pay for what.
That, he says, is an issue for down the track.
"You're asking me how we'll respond to a facility which does not yet exist and which has not been agreed at this COP yet," he said on Friday.
Prof Peel says pressure from the Pacific will only mount from here.
On Wednesday, Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, a former prime minister of the Cook Islands, told COP27 delegates "the climate crisis is our daily reality".
"On loss and damage, we cannot wait for the next COP to see action. We are experiencing loss and damage now, and delaying tactics are not acceptable," he said.
Australian Associated Press
