Time for a new UN Secretary General? Following on from scolding the entire G20 for failing the holy 1.5C climate mission, Secretary General António Guterres has criticised Australia for not keeping up with the climate efforts of other G20 nations.

UN Secretary-General labels Australia a ‘holdout’ for refusing to do more on climate change

The UN Secretary-General has branded Australia a “holdout” for refusing to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions this decade.

Published 22 March 2022 at 8:17am
Source: AAP

The United Nations secretary-general has called Australia a “holdout” after Scott Morrison refused to strengthen the nation’s 2030 emissions reduction target.

AdvertisementAntónio Guterres has used an address to a sustainability summit to take an extraordinary public swipe at Australia’s climate change efforts.

“A growing number of G20 developed economies have announced meaningful emissions reductions by 2030 – with a handful of holdouts, such as Australia,” he said.

He said the Paris climate pact’s ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5C was “on life support” but there was still something that could save it.

“Keeping 1.5 alive requires a 45 per cent reduction in global emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by mid-century. That problem was not solved in Glasgow,” the UN chief said.

…

Read more: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-a-holdout-on-climate-un-chief/jzufkwmqw

Sadly Guterres may get his way with Australia.

The ruling Aussie Conservative Coalition, which despite my frequent criticism has so far resisted calls to completely shut down coal, is doing badly in the polls, and may lose to a green Labor coalition in this year’s federal election.

Their Labor Party opponents seem genuinely committed to shutting down coal and much of the rest of the Australian economy in the name of the climate crisis, as opposed to the current ruling federal coalition’s mostly empty green posturing, and have frequently relied on Green Party support to form governments. So even if Labor wins an outright majority in this year’s federal election, they are likely to want to keep the greens close, just in case they need them again in the future.

Even if the coalition somehow scrapes through and secures a win, senior figures in the ruling coalition, like federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, seem fully onboard with Net Zero and the economically illiterate green hydrogen revolution, and may persuade colleagues to do something radical as part of a desperate effort to save their political skins.

So it seems likely that tough times are ahead for Australia, whichever major party wins the next election.