Six years ago, I was one of hundreds of official delegates standing in a temporary UN plenary room at Le Bourget when the Paris Agreement was adopted after years of negotiations. Australia has also coldly ignored its promise to achieve the Paris Agreement`s long-term goal of achieving net-zero emissions worldwide by 2050. A fundamental principle of international law – and arguably the oldest – is „pacta sunt servanda”, which means that „agreements must be respected”. It is essential to the functioning of the global treaty system. There are four crucial promises that Australia made in Paris and has now broken. These were not just handshake agreements, it is international law. Unfortunately, my own country has now shown that it is ready to break both the letter and the spirit of the agreement it has signed. This is particularly annoying given the extent to which Australia has worked in Paris to ally with those fighting for the strongest deal possible. Here in the Pacific, Australia has sensationally violated a third promise of the Paris Agreement: to channel our climate finance through a single global mechanism into the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to make it easier for those at the forefront of this climate crisis. After following the Trump administration out of the door of the GCF, we still have to come back with our tails between our legs, which means that we are effectively isolated among the major donor countries. This means that Australia is undermining the international treaty that is at the heart of the fight against climate change – and reiterates the need to transpose Australia`s climate agreements into national law. This failure builds on the coalition`s record of undermining international climate agreements, which dates back to 1997, when the Howard government first negotiated exceptionally favorable emissions targets but ultimately refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. In contrast, Australia will stick to its current commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

This is in line with the Paris climate agreement, although Morrison said Australia was on track to achieve net-zero emissions. Thom Woodroofe worked as a diplomatic adviser in the negotiations on the Paris Agreement The government continues to rely on ineffective measures such as the Climate Solutions Fund and the Safeguard Mechanism without incentives for major industrial emitters to reduce emissions and even allow baseline emissions to rise. Australia is planning new coking coal mines for coal export, mainly from Queensland`s Bowen Basin, increasing coal production by 4% from 2020 to 2030. LNG production is expected to increase by 6% over the same period. For example, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia all have liberal or coalition governments and have emission reduction and renewable energy policies that are much more ambitious than those at the federal level. We expect greenhouse gas emissions in fiscal 2020 to be 10% to 11% lower than in 2019, with an economic slowdown expected to be 8% to 9%. The two previous lockdown periods in parts of Australia have temporarily reduced road user activity and traffic emissions. In April 2020, oil consumption fell by 12.7% compared to April 2019. Containment measures did not have a significant impact on emissions from the electricity sector during the first wave of the pandemic, as mining and mineral processing continued. The minimum trajectory proposed in the Finkel report to reduce emissions from the electricity sector (26-28% above 2030 levels from 2005) is not in line with scientific understanding, as its reductions only follow the (already insufficient) 2030 reductions proposed for the entire Australian economy.

The proposed minimum trajectory also contradicts CSIRO`s recent technology assessments and the Climate Change Authority`s recent review of electricity sector developments through 2030. Morrison adds to this plate as he continues to procrastinate. His failure is puzzling, given that there is no threat to his post as prime minister and that businesses, farmers and major rural headquarters clearly support stricter emissions targets. It was then and remains perhaps the most important thing I have ever been involved in in my life. Rubin, E. S., Davison, J. E. & Herzog, H. J. (2015). The cost of CAPTURING AND STORING CO2.

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 40, 378-400. In December 2020, for example, the UK raised its 2030 target from 57% to 68% from 1990 levels. Germany has raised its target from 55% to 65% compared to 1990 levels. The United States will now aim for a 50-52% reduction by 2030 from 2005 levels. The decline in economic activity in Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic is leading to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, although Australia has not implemented an effective climate policy. The Australian government embarked on a gas-fired rather than green recovery and continued to signal its support for the coal industry. The government has shown no intention of updating its Paris Agreement target or adopting a net-zero emissions target, with the prime minister explicitly excluding it. The government is focusing on what it calls a „technology-neutral” approach that is refuted by its focus on gas. Investment in renewable energy has fallen to 2017 levels due to uncertainty in the government`s policy direction.

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