Delegates speak at COP26 in Glasgow
Australia is taking its improved 43% by 2030 emissions reduction target to the COP27 Summit in Egypt next week, but the Prime Minister won’t be there to deliver the news himself.
While Anthony Albanese will miss the conference, Shortland MP and Minister for International Development & the Pacific Pat Conroy will be attending as Australia and the Pacific work to put in a joint bid to host the event in 2024.
Joining him will be Energy Minister Chris Bowen and the junior minister Senator Jenny McAllister.
World leaders will meet in the wake of a new Climate Council report pointing to extreme weather records being smashed globally in the 12 months since COP26 in Glasgow.
Director of Research at the Climate Council, Doctor Simon Bradshaw said we are living through a new era of climate consequences.
“From Lismore to Lahore, the last 12 months has seen extreme weather records tumbling on every continent on the planet. The costs of climate change are being measured in rising hunger, in families forced from their homes and in lives lost”
“We are still in the midst of our costliest ever flood disaster, as affected communities anxiously look ahead to predictions of a wet summer,” he said.
Dr Bradshaw is urging the Federal Government to take a more ambitious approach to emissions reduction.
He says if Australia wants to host a climate summit we need to up our game.
“Last year I was on the ground at COP26 in Glasgow where we saw Australia widely condemned as a climate laggard and where Australia was ranked dead last for its climate policies among developed countries,” he said.
“Australia is now back in the race to net zero but starting well behind. We have a long way to go, especially if the Albanese Government wants to co-host a COP at home in partnership with Pacific Island countries.”
COP27 kicks off on Sunday November 6 and runs until Friday November 18 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.