Thread by @David_Ritter

Yesterday, an unprecedented leak to @UE revealed that @ScottMorrisonMP's government has been attempting to undermine the findings of the UN's expert climate body.
So, what did they say?
And how this is part of Australia’s recent diplomatic history? An explainer thread: #auspol

Yesterday’s leak is crucial, because it shows what the Australian government is really up to -
attempting to water down the International Panel on Climate Change’s major upcoming assessment of the world’s options for limiting global warming:
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2021/10/21/lea…

According to the BBC, the comments from governments are overwhelmingly designed to be constructive and to improve the quality of the final report… but there are some exceptions, including Australia:
bbc.com/news/science-e…

Australian government reps seem hell-bent on protecting coal vested interests by trying to:
1. Reject the need to phase out coal.
2. Deny that Australia is a major producer/consumer of coal.
3. With no lack of irony, delete findings that lobbying has held back climate action.

The Australian government’s refusal to support the phase-out of coal-burning power stations, the biggest cause of the climate crisis (along with mining and burning oil and gas) is particularly glaring after the IEA’s call to cease coal burning by 2030:
iea.org/reports/net-ze…

And lest we forget, Australia is the world’s 2nd largest exporter of coal, largest exporter of LNG, and 3rd largest exporter of all fossil fuels.
Mining and burning fossil fuels is the biggest cause of the climate crisis:
abc.net.au/news/science/2…

The leak shows continuity with the Morrison government’s consistently obstructive approach.
After becoming PM in 2018, Morrison mocked the importance of the 2018 IPCC Report, saying he was not going to "get led around by the nose by these organisations” pm.gov.au/media/intervie…

In the above conversation - an interview with Alan Jones - Morrison showed open contempt for cooperative global efforts to limit climate change. The PM told Jones he was “not going to spend money on global climate conferences and all that sort of nonsense” pm.gov.au/media/intervie…

Morrison effectively became Donald Trump’s climate inaction deputy, flaunting his public disdain for international efforts, skipping a key global climate conference, and criticising the UN’s efforts to foster global climate action:
abc.net.au/news/2019-10-0…

Then, in 2019, at the crucial UNFCCC COP25, Australia was accused of ‘cheating’ and ‘thwarting’ a global deal to meet climate targets: theguardian.com/environment/20…

This was all linked to the Morrison government sneakily trying to use a loophole to avoid emissions cuts:
theguardian.com/world/2019/aug…

Australia is now the only developed nation that has failed to lift its already dismal and wholly inadequate 2015 Paris climate targets:
theguardian.com/australia-news…

A key component of Morrison’s strategy of obstruction has been to misrepresent what little Australia is actually doing and to hide the lack of a credible national emissions reduction plan:
theguardian.com/environment/20…

Despite deceptive communications, Australia is not even on track to achieve these entirely insufficient targets, which fall short of every scientific and diplomatic assessment of what needs to be done to align with the Paris Agreement:
theguardian.com/environment/20…

Ending subsidies for coal, oil and gas is high on the global agenda. But Australian subsidies for fossil fuels increased 48% between 2015 and 2019; the highest percentage increase of all G20 nations.
assets.bbhub.io/professional/s…

On trade arrangements specifically, the Morrison Government is actively opposing European carbon tariffs:
theguardian.com/australia-news…

In the wake of the dire warnings of the most recent IPCC Report and commitment to greater action from leaders around the globe, the Morrison government responded with a resounding “yeah…. nah”: sbs.com.au/news/scott-mor…

The Morrison team concentrated a previous round of diplomatic lobbying on cynical efforts to deny the science and block the listing of the Great Barrier Reef as World Heritage ‘in danger’: ​​ reuters.com/business/envir…

There have also been revelations that the Morrison government actually pressured the Australian Institute of Marine Science on a key scientific report, and selectively leaked to the Murdoch media: abc.net.au/news/2021-09-0…

It also recently became clear that the Morrison government pressured the UK to drop commitments to the Paris climate goal from the UK-Aust trade deal: theguardian.com/australia-news…

Countless calls from leaders around the globe show that they are not fooled by the Morrison government’s disinformation and obfuscation. Neither are the people of Australia.
sbs.com.au/news/australia…

This embarrassingly regressive and recalcitrant approach to global climate progress has seen Australia identified as a complete laggard, landing us dead last among 170 nations on climate action:
washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/…

Australia’s recent diplomatic performance is so obstructive, that everyone from Joe Biden’s team to the UK Royal Family has expressed open surprise or frustration:
smh.com.au/world/europe/p…

Australia’s failure to be a constructive international partner on climate change is so glaring that senior diplomats from some of our historic allies have been meeting together trying to work out how to get Australia to be more helpful: theguardian.com/australia-news…

The Australian people deserve better. We need a government that behaves well on the world stage, acting cooperative and constructively, using our diplomatic influence to promote rapid climate action, peace, equality and sustainability - all of which are in our national interest.