Amid growing concern Australia is not doing enough to cut carbon emissions the United Kingdom’s Conservative led government has privately appealed to senior ministers in Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government to develop a more “ambitious” climate policy.
The approaches included discussions with Energy and Emissions Reductions Minister Angus Taylor and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
As the Australian government fends off criticism from Pacific island nations about its climate policies, Guardian Australia has revealed that the UK’s high commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell, has met with both ministers since the May election, using the introductory meetings to convey Britain’s view that it wants all countries, including Australia, to increase their climate ambitions.
The UK has prioritised climate action, and last month became the first Group of Seven (G7) country to legislate a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Since 1990, the UK has reduced emissions by more than 40 per cent, while the economy has grown by around 70 per cent.
Guardian Australia reports it is understood the high commissioner’s meeting with Mr Taylor took place in early July.
They discussed the future of Australia’s energy policy after the Liberal-National government dumped its proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG) just days before the former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was removed and replaced by current Liberal leader Scott Morrison.
A bilateral meeting between Ms Treadell and Ms Payne also raised the need for more ambitious climate action, which has become a key concern of Pacific island nations, some of which face an existential threat from rising sea levels.
Mr Morrison, last week fended off criticism about Australia’s climate position at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) after refusing to endorse a statement that had called for a quicker transition to renewable energy and a pledge to end coal-fired power.
While Australia committed $500m in aid money to help respond to the climate emergency in the region, it has rebuffed calls for bolder emissions reduction targets and not to use carry-over credits to meet its 2030 United Nations sponsored Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets.
Guardian Australia reports like Australia, the UK is also stepping up its diplomatic activities in the Pacific region, opening new posts in Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga through what it has termed a Pacific “uplift” program.
A spokesman for the UK high commission in Canberra said the call for more ambitious action on the climate emergency did not just apply to Australia.
“No countries’ targets have been ambitious enough and every country needs to do more, including both the UK and Australia,” the spokesman said.
“The UK government believes we have a moral duty to leave this world in better condition than that which we inherited, which is why we have set ourselves a target of net zero emissions by 2050.”
The intervention comes as the Liberal-National government faces further international pressure to do more on climate, with the UN hosting a climate summit in New York next month, followed by the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which oversees global emissions targets.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has asked world leaders to demonstrate at the September summit that they have plans for achieving zero emissions by 2050.
Next year, the annual COP will likely be held in the UK, where Australia can be expected to face further pressure from many Paris Agreement signatories to bolster its climate targets.
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