Thread by @bluebowerbird

@AsiKym First up, India doesn't need persuading. They're on track to meet (possibly exceed) their Paris targets, thanks to Modi's HUGE investments in renewable energy. cleantechnica.com/2019/05/17/ind…

@AsiKym China, the world's largest nation and largest emitter isn't doing as well. However they're the world leaders in renewable energy installation and moving in the right direction, albeit not as fast as they were, due in part to trade war with US.
climatechangenews.com/2019/07/02/chi…

@AsiKym Here's a summary of who is on track or not (note Australia is not)
gizmodo.com.au/2019/12/which-…

@AsiKym As for 'Australia doing our bit', well we're not. At Paris, Abbott argued for a very measly reduction and we're not going to meet it. So ScoMo is now trying to claim credits for Labor over-achieving on the Kyoto agreement to count for Paris targets.
theconversation.com/australia-is-c…

@AsiKym Even if we use the Kyoto credits, we're still probably not going to meet our targets.
(in graph, shaded areas are the Kyoto credits, the black line is our total emissions, and pale orange section is emissions above our agreed target)

@AsiKym China, the US & India are the biggest emitters, so we often argue "we're too small to make a difference". But so do 175 other nations. Together the "too small" group emit the most and our emissions are rising fastest. If we all miss our targets, the planet is cooked.

@AsiKym Luckily for Australia though, we have some things other nations can only dream of: abundant sun 🌞& wind 🌬️. Combined w tech smarts, we could be world leaders in renewable energy, including hydrogen fuel we could export to Asia.
insidestory.org.au/here-comes-the…

@AsiKym Right now, Australia is exporting lots of #coal to Asia. But it's dangerous to think this will last. For example, Japan, our largest customer is looking to move away from coal, and would be very interested in Australian hydrogen if we built that industry.
theguardian.com/environment/20…

@AsiKym Australia right now punches way above it's weight in contributing to the problem. Our emissions are highest per capita after Saudi Arabia + our coal exports count for 2x our domestic emissions. Yet in a world that must move to sun/wind/hydro energy we could be real winners.

@AsiKym As we are seeing with record drought, bleaching of Great Barrier Reef, tropical diseases moving south and unprecedented bushfires, Australia is very vulnerable to #climatechange. It's in our interest, possibly more than some nations, that the world acts to reduce emissions.

@AsiKym Our choice is, do we move rapidly to sun & wind energy + develop clean energy technology we can export - or do we keep investing in more #coal and delay the transition so some billionaires & coal/gas cos (many of whom pay no tax) can make short-term profits?

@AsiKym Of course, what the US, China & India do is crucial. But so is what the rest of the world does. And every nation is watching everyone else. Does Australia want to show the world how to manage a clean energy transition? Or do we want to risk being a pariah, exposed to sanctions?

@AsiKym @threadreaderapp unroll please