Australia placed a spotlight on itself for backing coal on eve of COP26

Hours before the COP26 climate talks are to begin in Glasgow, Australia has “placed a spotlight on itself” by siding with China and India in resisting a push to put a timeline on the abandonment of coal-fired power, says a senior UK environmental advisor.

In the months leading up to the talks United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that along with formal United Nations climate negotiations, for Glasgow to succeed the world must use the moment to address “coal, cars, cash and trees.”

As leaders gather, Australia has drawn unwelcome attention to itself over its position on coal.Credit:AP

By this he means leaders must agree to shift away from fossil fuels, must accelerate the process of decarbonising transport and industry, must provide more finance to developing nations to help them shift their economies, and must help create carbon sinks by protecting and replanting forests.

It had been hoped that progress on decarbonisation would be made at this weekend’s G20 meeting in Rome.

In siding with China and India in resisting putting a timeline on the coal phaseout, Australia is signalling that is not in step with the UK and other major western economies on the need to phase out fossil fuels, says Chris Littlecott, a director with the policy institute E3G, which has been advising on the international transition from coal.

“[The position on coal] is revealing Australia is tending to come in with an oppositional approach rather than a constructive approach. It is setting redlines but not saying what it might agree to.

“The feeling I get speaking with diplomats is that they’re getting frustrated with Australia’s approach,” he said.

In the hours before the talks begin there is a growing sense of unease in Glasgow that they may fail to deliver the outcomes needed to keep the world on track to holding warming to well below 2 degrees and as close to 1.5 degrees as possible.

The decision by Chinese President Xi Jinping not to attend and not to commit to a significant increase in reduction ambitions late this week has added to concerns, as has the failure of United States President Joe Biden’s failure to drive sweeping climate-related economic reforms through Congress before the talks began.

Then-treasurer Scott Morrison with a lump of coal in Parliament in February 2017.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Speaking at the G20 talks, scheduled to act as a COP curtain-raiser, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres said, ”On the eve of COP26 in Glasgow, all roads to success go through Rome. But let’s be clear â€" there is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver.

He said current formal emission reductions commitments would see the world warm a “calamitous” 2.7 degrees.

“Under the best-case scenario, temperatures will still rise well above two degrees. That is a disaster.”

Preliminary negotiations begin on Sunday in the UK, with the world leaders conference on Monday and Tuesday to address emissions commitments and plans to reduce deforestation and methane emissions.

Expectations high: Climate activist Greta Thunberg demonstrates in front of the Standard and Chartered Bank during a climate protest in London, England ahead of COP26 in Britain.Credit:AP

On Wednesday, the focus will be on efforts to provide finance to developing nations, which is considered crucial to keeping the Paris Agreement functioning, and on Thursday the focus will return to global efforts to phase out coal, oil and gas.

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Nick O'Malley is National Environment and Climate Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is also a senior writer and a former US correspondent.Connect via email.

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