Thread by @David_Ritter

The real motive behind @ScottMorrisonMP’s net zero “plan” was to take political heat off him, in Australia and internationally.
So, how'd it go?
TL;DR: badly.
So far, it turns out the “Plan” is not only useless for reducing emissions but has been a self-own.
Here’s a thread:

As reported by @mb_dahlstrom last night “Australia’s international reputation is being shredded according to new data which shows the country’s climate-change policies are striking a raw nerve”.
au.news.yahoo.com/graph-shows-au…

The data shows that there has been a widespread negative response to Morrison’s “plan” across both conventional and social media.
“Hot mess”, “failure” and “pigs” have been among the trending terms:
au.news.yahoo.com/graph-shows-au…

CNN has called Australia “the rich world’s weakest link at COP26”, deriding the lack of accountability through legislation
edition.cnn.com/2021/10/25/aus…

Leaders from across the Pacific have shared their disappointment - former Kiribati president Anote Tong noted the plan doesn’t go far enough and President of the Federated States of Micronesia, David Panuelo, referenced it as “hollow” and “not quite clear”
abc.net.au/news/2021-10-2…

The New York Times headline said it all really re: their cynicism - “Australia pledges ‘Net Zero’ Emissions by 2050. Its Plan Makes That Hard to Believe.”
It also notes the commitment is built on ‘hope for new technology, and little else.”
nytimes.com/2021/10/26/wor…

Al Jazeera, referring to Australia as a ‘climate laggard’ noted the lack of greater ambition this decade and the mounting global pressure to take more meaningful action on climate:
aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/2…

The BBC noted the details of reaching net zero are “still murky and potentially problematic” - referencing Australia’s constant heel-dragging on climate action and heavy emissions from exports.
​​bbc.com/news/world-aus…

The Financial Times highlighted Australia remained “wedded to fossil fuels”, despite the criticality of phasing out coal, oil and gas as soon as possible.
ft.com/content/592c25…

The Telegraph described the plan as “vague” and noted Australia is “widely seen as a climate laggard” again referencing our huge coal and gas exports.
telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

The Independent noted Australia’s controversial refusal to set short-term goals and the scrutiny faced due to our ‘massive fossil fuel sector’.
independent.co.uk/climate-change…

The Irish Times noted Australia had chosen the same camp as Saudi Arabia - who have also been derided for their refusal to shift away from oil.
irishtimes.com/news/world/asi…

Reuters highlighted the key issue that Morriosn refuses to legislate our goals again referencing our history of being “long under fire as one of the world’s top poroducers of coal and gas”
reuters.com/business/cop/a…

The Jakarta Post noted Australia had “shied away from setting more ambitious goals” with our “much-delayed” target.
thejakartapost.com/paper/2021/10/…

And the Global Times labelled Australia as “coal-rich” and noted the plan “pointed dodged thorny details or near-term goals”
globaltimes.cn/page/202110/12…

Australia now stands almost completely alone amongst G20 advanced nations in refusing to legislate the country’s net zero ambitions.
eciu.net/netzerotracker

Contrary to ‘doing our bit’, Australia is currently on track to have the most carbon-intensive economy of any major developed nation in 2030:
igcc.org.au/new-us-2030-em…

Facing derision on climate is not new for Morrison.
For years, he has been growing increasingly isolated and derided for desperately clinging to polluting coal and gas & blocking global progress.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

In the lead up to COP26, just about every one of our global allies had to demand Scott Morrison pick up his act to convince him to even show up at the critical conference - all the way up to the Queen.
google.com/amp/s/amp.theg…

And who could forget when Australia ranked dead last out of 170 nations in a UN report on taking action on climate change:
washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/…

Nothing in the government’s supposed ‘Plan’ will change our positioning - as it focuses on technology that either doesn’t work or doesn’t exist, unverified projections and repackaged state commitments with no meaningful mechanism or legislation.

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

The UN has sounded the alarm that unless leaders show greater ambition in Glasgow we are on the path to a catastrophic 2.7 degrees of warming. Morrison’s refusal to make a meaningful plan at this point is absolutely an abandonment of the Australian people.
aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/17…

It doesn’t have to be this way - we have the technology we need and a pathway forward to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. But we need a government that listens to the science & the will of the people, and acts appropriately.
climateworksaustralia.org/project/decarb…

Scott Morrison needs to offer greater ambition at Glasgow - including legislated targets, a commitment to phasing out polluting coal, oil and gas, and much deeper emissions cuts this decade - if he is to be taken seriously on the world stage. #auspol