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Canberra: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and fellow world leaders have stared down opposition from US President Donald Trump to issue a declaration at the G20 summit in South Africa backing the Paris climate change agreement, endorsing net zero climate emissions by the middle of the century and praising free trade.
The federal government also released more details about Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s upcoming role as head of negotiations for the next round of global climate talks, as it surprised environmentalists by signing up to a voluntary statement calling for a plan to eventually phase out fossil fuels.
Trump boycotted the G20 conference in Johannesburg following months of accusations that South Africa was discriminating against minority white Afrikaners.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the opening day of the summit in Johannesburg.Credit: AP
A senior Trump administration official branded it “shameful” that South Africa had forged ahead with a leaders’ declaration despite US opposition to the text, saying it undermined the G20 model of consensus.
Albanese said it was a “good thing” that all summit participants had been able to agree on a communique as he returned to Australia for the final parliamentary sitting week of the year, which is set to be dominated by debate about environmental reform laws.
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He told reporters that “it’s a very positive sign that the world wants to get on with co-operating, and it’s a very positive statement going forward”.
Asked whether signing up to the statement could damage Australia’s relationship with the United States, Albanese said: “Australia, as a sovereign state, makes decisions based upon our own national interest.
“Australia has an interest in action on climate change. We have an interest in trade, we’re a trading nation. One in four of our jobs is dependent upon trade. So there’s nothing unusual about supporting free and fair trade.”
In the 30-page statement, the leaders said they recognised “the urgency and seriousness of climate change” and reaffirmed the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
“We reiterate our commitment and will intensify our efforts to achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century,” the leaders said.
The statement will probably intensify domestic debate about whether the Coalition has put itself at odds with most of the international community by scrapping its goal of achieving net zero by 2050.
Trump has referred to climate change as a hoax and withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement when he returned to the White House in January.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the 19 countries participating in the forum had agreed by “overwhelming consensus” to endorse “a worthy G20 leaders’ document”.
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White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the declaration was pushed by Ramaphosa “despite consistent and robust US objections”, and the US would focus on “restoring legitimacy to the G20″ when Miami hosted the event next year.
Before the signing of the declaration, an angry Trump administration official told Reuters: “It is a longstanding G20 tradition to issue only consensus deliverables, and it is shameful that the South African government is now trying to depart from this standard practice.”
Under a deal struck between Turkey and Australia over the next major global climate conference, Turkey will host the event and Bowen will have “exclusive authority in relation to the negotiations”, according to the government.
“This will give Australia and the Pacific unprecedented influence in global climate negotiations,” a government spokesperson said.
The Coalition has opposed Bowen taking on the role, saying it would distract him from his core ministerial duties.
“He wants to be on the international circuit; he wants to be hobnobbing and negotiating at climate conferences,” opposition finance spokesman James Paterson told Sky News on Sunday.
“He has no interest in lowering energy prices for Australians.”
Australia joined more than 80 nations to sign up to a separate declaration at the COP30 meeting in the Brazilian city of Belem, calling for a road map to end the world’s use of fuels such as coal and gas.
Albanese said agreeing to the side text – which was not part of the main COP30 accord amid opposition from oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia – was not incompatible with Australia’s moves to expand the use of natural gas.
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He said that “all of the energy experts say the cheapest form of transition is renewables backed by gas, backed by hydro, backed by batteries – that’s Australia’s position”.
Greenpeace’s Simon Bradshaw said: “This is the strongest ever statement from Australia on fossil fuels, and we intend to hold them to it.
“By signing the Belem Declaration, Australia is acknowledging that our legally binding international commitment to limit warming to 1.5 degrees means no new fossil fuels.”
Thomas Woodroofe, a senior international fellow with the Smart Energy Council, agreed the declaration was “the strongest statement Australia has ever made on phasing out fossil fuels”.
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