Australia ‘casts climate shadow’

Developing nations say a Morrison government snub of the world’s biggest climate change fund hampers efforts to cut global carbon pollution and erodes Australia’s international reputation.

But the government claims the fund was not operating well and says it is working directly with Pacific neighbours to help them cope with changing weather.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia will cease payments to the United Nations-backed Green Climate Fund, a mechanism under the Paris treaty to help poor nations cut emissions and respond to extreme weather and rising seas.

Australia’s high per-capita emissions and coal dependence mean it was expected to be a generous benefactor. However, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has pressured the government to abandon the fund and it is unpopular with conservative Coalition MPs, including Tony Abbott.

Australia contributed A$200 million (NZ$216 m) in the first funding round and took a leadership role in 2016 when it cochaired the fund.

But in a radio interview last month Morrison, when asked if Australia would be bound to its climate targets under the Paris agreement, said: ‘‘No, we won’t … nor are we bound to go and tip money into that big climate fund. We’re not going to do that either. I’m not going to spend money on global climate conferences and all that nonsense.’’

Fund board member Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, said Australia’s stance was ‘‘beyond frustrating’’, particularly in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that this month warned of devastating planetary damage without radical action.

‘‘This backtracking from [the] previous commitment by Australia is disappointing,’’ he told Fairfax Media.

‘‘Australia is the world’s biggest coal exporter . . . it has a major responsibility to provide financial support for developing countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change.’’

Mpanu-Mpanu suggested abandoning the fund was in contravention of the Paris accord and said commitments by developing nations to lower emissions under the treaty relied on financial support from nations such as Australia.

Parties to the Paris deal will meet in Poland in December to finalise the rules of the treaty and ‘‘this decision by Australia will cast a shadow on the process of

reaching an agreement’’, he said.

The fund’s board last week approved US$1 billion for projects

‘‘Australia is the world’s biggest coal exporter . . . it has a major responsibility to provide financial support for developing countries to adapt to and mitigate climate change.’’ Mpanu-Mpanu, Green Climate Fund

in developing countries. They include a geothermal project in Indonesia and measures to protect water supplies in the Pacific nation of Kiribati. The board also agreed to seek further financial contributions to replenish the dwindling fund.

Fairfax Media understands Australia sent just one official to the meeting in Bahrain, down from the four officials who attended a meeting in February – a clear sign of its declining engagement.

Australian official Ewen McDonald co-chaired the fund in 2016 with South Africa’s Zaheer Fakir. Fakir also slammed Australia’s decision to withhold money.

‘‘It is a concern not only for the [fund] but for the broader climate agenda and the potential ambitious action that is required in mitigation and adaptation,’’ he said. – Fairfax