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2 Sep, 17 tweets, 7 min read
Today new details were revealed of the sleazy, cynical lobbying effort by the @ScottMorrisonMP government to stop our Great Barrier Reef from being listed as ‘in danger’ by UNESCO. How did it come to this? Here’s a thread: #auspol #ActOnClimate
What we found out today is that the Morrison government actually pressured the Australian Institute of Marine Science on a key scientific report, and selectively leaked it to the Murdoch media. Read all about it: abc.net.au/news/2021-09-0…
Today’s revelations are shocking - but consistent with the cynical behaviour of Morrison and his predecessors over a long period of time. Let’s go through the tawdry history.
Back in May 2016, the Australian government lobbied to ensure the Reef was omitted from a report on World Heritage sites threatened by climate change: theguardian.com/environment/20…
In April 2018, the Australian government awarded $443 million - purportedly to protect the Reef - to a tiny organisation with links to the mining industry without proper due diligence, transparency or tendering: joshfrydenberg.com.au/latest-news/re…
In May 2019, after lobbying UNESCO to avoid placing the Reef on the ‘in danger’ list another time, Morrison stated the government had ‘saved the Great Barrier Reef’. Countless scientific studies at the time and since have shown the scale of this untruth.
theguardian.com/environment/20…
In Sept 2019, Morrison told the UN Australia was ‘doing its bit’ on climate change with a ‘vibrant, resilient and protected’ Reef - one month after the @gbrmarinepark's report found the Reef had deteriorated to very poor & with no federal climate policy. theconversation.com/defiant-scott-…
In Nov 2019, the Australian Academy of Science told a Senate Inquiry it was ‘greatly concerned’ over the Australian government misrepresenting scientific evidence on the Reef to suit an agenda of misinformation about its health. aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_…
In Sept & Oct 2020, scientists gave evidence of Australian politicians misrepresenting and refusing to accept scientific evidence to avoid admitting the deteriorating state of the Reef’s health. theguardian.com/environment/20…
The Australian government’s claims that it was 'blindsided' by the announcement of UNESCO's plan to declare the Great Barrier Reef 'in danger' is clearly absurd given years of clear warnings of the Reef’s deteriorating health:
Most recently, the Australian government succeeded in its cynical lobbying effort to push back the listing of the Reef as ‘in danger’, despite agreement from many experts that it is, in fact, in mortal peril.
nature.com/articles/d4158…
Australia’s Reef 2050 Plan, supposedly designed to protect and preserve the GBR, contains no action to reduce emissions which are driving climate change which is the greatest threat to the Reef’s survival.
theguardian.com/environment/20…
The Australian government knows what needs to be done - it just refuses to do it. Just yesterday the government’s Special Envoy Warren Entsch stated the Reef’s future depends on greater climate action.
smh.com.au/politics/feder…
No policy or action taken can truly protect the Reef, and no leader can suggest they are conserving it, without being supported by meaningful climate action. This is the big lie countless Australian politicians have hid behind for years.
theguardian.com/sustainable-bu…
Australia increased its fossil fuel subsidies by 48% since the Paris Agreement in 2015, undermining any suggestion the govt is doing its best to protect the Reef. The burning and mining of coal, oil and gas is the biggest contributor to the climate crisis. assets.bbhub.io/professional/s…
Preserving the Reef requires clear and meaningful climate action; setting a 2035 net-zero target and a moratorium on new coal, oil and gas. Instead, Australia recently ranked last out of 170 nations for climate action; the clearest sign of poor faith. washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/…
It’s time for @ScottMorrisonMP to do his job, protect our beautiful Great Barrier Reef and forge a brighter future for all Australians. We know how to turn things around on climate, we have agency in this fight & the tech and models we need. Let’s get to work. #ActOnClimate

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More from @David_Ritter

David Ritter Profile picture
8 Sep
Late last night, news broke in London that @ScottMorrisonMP’s government has been pressuring the UK to drop commitments to the Paris climate goal from the UK-Aust trade deal.
Shameful and part of a pattern, because there's a history of active sabotage.
Here's a thread: #auspol
Australia’s obstruction in global climate diplomacy goes back a long, long way to the mid-90s:
theguardian.com/australia-news…
But let’s stick to the more recent history. In 2018 @ScottMorrisonMP newly installed as PM, set an unconstructive tone, dumping on the importance of international climate efforts in an interview with Alan Jones: pm.gov.au/media/intervie…
Read 22 tweets
David Ritter Profile picture
7 Sep
Great to speak about climate impacts in the Pacific just now for @SEI_Sydney.
The climate crisis is the greatest threat to the Pacific, and there's a myriad of incredible people working to shine a light on what's needed to turn things around. Follow those threaded in for more:
Pacific voices to follow on climate justice, humanitarian aid and displacement due to climate change (1/2):
@mereiacarling
@Kathykijiner
@lagipoiva
@afgfiji
@sharonfiji
@Cameron_Diver
@charlp27
@CANPacificIs
Pacific voices to follow on climate justice, humanitarian aid and displacement due to climate change (2/2):
@lagiseru
@ilolahia_es
@SprepChannel
@Annmary_raduva
@wtmpacific
@Senator_Heine
@noelenen
@diva4equality
@LiceMovono
@JoLatuSanft
Read 4 tweets
David Ritter Profile picture
2 Sep
Extraordinary graph from the AEMO.
By 2026, rooftop solar is projected to meet up to 77% of grid demand at times (a conservative scenario).
Coal-burning power station operators are playing a losing game against massive technological change. We're in the Clean Energy Revolution.
Australia's biggest climate polluters like @AGLAustralia are betting against an inevitable market transition that is already happening.
Coal is on the out - it's dirty, it's expensive - and we don't need it. Renewables backed up by batteries are ready to supply our energy needs.
Here's the full report if you'd like more detail. @AGLAustralia this might be particularly useful for your business model. aemo.com.au/-/media/files/…
Read 4 tweets
David Ritter Profile picture
11 Aug
Hey @ScottMorrisonMP, I’ve read and reread the transcript of your presser yesterday responding to the #IPCCReport, and there’s a bunch of stuff you’re wrong about. Time to bust the Morrison Myths about climate change. Here’s a thread.
Australia is making an oversized contribution to the global climate crisis in a few ways. First, when land use change is excluded, our emissions per capita are higher than any other nation, so what we do matters.
Second, coal, oil and gas are the top drivers of emissions - and when exports and what is burned at home are combined, Australis is fifth worst in the world for responsibility for carbon dioxide from extractive fossil industries: theguardian.com/environment/20…
Read 17 tweets
David Ritter Profile picture
11 Aug
Just 48 hours after the shocking #IPCCReport dropped, some very good climate news in Australia this morning that shows our biggest businesses are taking action. It is a big deal and here is why:
This morning, Tomago Aluminium Smelter, the single largest user of electricity in Australia, announced that it will be powered by ‘mostly renewables’ by 2029. This is huge and signals unstoppable momentum away from coal which is the number one driver of climate change.
Tomago is the biggest customer of @AGLAustralia which is Australia’s single largest domestic climate polluter, responsible for 8% of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. AGL owns three coal-burning power stations: Bayswater, Liddell and Loy Yang A.
Read 11 tweets
David Ritter Profile picture
9 Aug
Hey @AngusTaylorMP last night you claimed Australia's climate record "is one of delivery and achievement".
To use a technical term, that is complete crap.
Here are 14 times Australia’s record has been highlighted as embarrassingly bad on your watch. #IPCC
minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/tayl…
In a UN report released in July 2021, Australia ranked dead last in climate action amongst over 170 UN members analysed: washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/…
In December 2019, an international study found that Australia was the worst-performing country on climate change policy, according to an international ranking of more than countries: theguardian.com/environment/20…
Read 18 tweets

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