World Leaders Discussed Climate. Aust PM Admired a ‘Smart Drive-Thru’
One by one they walked through the front doors of the grand United Nations headquarters: leaders of microstates and superpowers alike, flanked by teams of advisers and translators.
The global diplomatic community descends on this patch of midtown Manhattan for the annual UN General Assembly like seagulls on a hot chip. Hotels book out; the streets go into lockdown.
This year’s event began with a special climate change summit designed to showcase what countries around the world are doing to reduce their carbon emissions. With the world’s media watching, most leaders were keen to spruik their progress.
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern was there on stage. So were Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron and British leader Boris Johnson. U.S. President Donald Trump – who has announced his intention to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accords – didn’t have a speaking slot but made a surprise appearance in the crowd.
The leaders of more than 50 countries made climate pledges – some genuinely significant, some reheated, some cosmetic.
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist who travelled to the summit from the UK in a zero-emissions yacht, delivered an impassioned speech, barely hiding her anger at the politicians seated before her.
Scott Morrison, though he was in the U.S., was in a different city altogether. Instead of the UN, the Prime Minister was in Chicago giving a speech on foreign policy and visiting an innovation hub. There he learnt about McDonald’s new “smart DriveThru technology” among other things. The UN announced last week that countries such as Australia, the US and Japan were not invited to speak because they were not prepared to announce more ambitious emission reduction targets or reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.
“Only the boldest and most transformative actions make the stage,” a UN official said. Asked by a reporter why he was in Chicago, Mr Morrison resembled an actor who says they are glad their play is running OffBroadway rather than the bright lights of 42nd Street.
“New York: there’s a lot of people there this week and so I had the opportunity here to speak through a different channel,” he said, referring to his appearance at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “World leaders have come from all over the place to speak at this august organisation. And I was pleased to have the invitation and I was pleased to accept it.”
Mr Morrison arrived in New York in the afternoon as the climate summit was winding down for events on terrorism and extremist content on the internet.
The Australia-shaped void in the summit programme was a reminder how much has changed in the past decade.
At the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, Kevin Rudd positioned Australia as a crucial player, the ideal country to broker a breakthrough agreement between China and the U.S. But self-interest won out and the summit ended in disappointment.
This time around Australia wasn’t trying to punch above its weight. We weren’t even in the ring.
The leaders of more than 50 countries made climate pledges – some genuinely significant, some reheated, some cosmetic. Scott Morrison, though he was in the U.S., was in a different city altogether.