HomeExpressions by MontaigneFighting Climate Change the Australian Way?Institut Montaigne features a platform of Expressions dedicated to debate and current affairs. The platform provides a space for decryption and dialogue to encourage discussion and the emergence of new voices.25/05/2021Fighting Climate Change the Australian Way?Three questions to Emma Aisbett EnvironmentPrintShare Emma Aisbett Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) When President Joe Biden organized a global climate summit in April 2021, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison sat amongst international leaders. But in stark contrast to his fellows’ environmental measures, the Australian Head of Government did not make any fundamental commitments to change the country’s approach to tackling climate change. Yet, Australia is one of the world's biggest carbon emitters on a per capita basis. Therefore, we decided to ask Emma Aisbett, Fellow at the School of Regulation and Global Governance of the Australian National University, three questions on Australia's climate policies. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been criticized for his climate policy approach. What is his government’s method to tackle climate change and meet environmental targets? The Morrison government’s approach to meeting environmental targets is based first and foremost on the caveat that they are not a high priority in themselves. The Government’s climate policy mantra is "technology not taxes". It recently released its first Low-Emissions Technology Investment Roadmap, an example of what some people would call "green industrial policy", similar to what we can see in Europe, although on a much smaller scale. The particular focus is on the opportunities this industry offers in terms of exports, as renewable resources are abundant in the country. This is our particular subject of interest at the Australian National University’s Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific Grand Challenge. Australia has the potential to embed cheap green energy in products such as green steel, aluminium, hydrogen and ammonia. Green export potential is thus far the only narrative supporting the energy transition which has traction with the Morrison government. Hydrogen is a particular focus of the government which has issued a National Hydrogen Strategy and has made hydrogen one of five priority technologies in its Roadmap statement. However it is important to note that hydrogen can be made either out of fossil fuels (like gas and coal) or from renewable energies. The Australian government is taking a technology neutral approach to defining clean hydrogen. In their view, "clean" hydrogen can either be made from renewable energies or using what is named "steam reforming of fossil fuels", i.e. gas or brown coal, which of course is a highly emitting process. Now although there are ways of limiting the emissions out of the latter process, through carbon capture and storage for instance, there are still limits to this. Fugitive emissions, released when the gas or the coal is extracted from the floor, remain untamable. Australia understands that in order to sell its green energy resources on the global market the country will need to certify its emission content.Australia understands that in order to sell its green energy resources on the global market the country will need to certify its emission content. The Smart Energy Council, an industry group, is creating a green certification for the hydrogen made out of renewable energies in order to verify the quality for global markets. However, they face challenges to ensure their approach truly reflects zero-emissions hydrogen. One way to verify the renewability of energy is to buy certifications.But because of additionality issues, even if one company was to buy enough Australian renewable energy certificates for its hydrogen production, it could still be causing net emissions. One way to avoid this problem and ensure a zero-emission hydrogen is to follow the European RED II approach in which the consumption of renewable energy needs to be matched with the purchases of renewable energy both in time and space. Another approach to certification is being led by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources with a longer term approach that aims at certifying that the carbon content is correct and trustworthy. This approach avoids an arbitrary decision on what is green and not green and ensures that market actors can rely on the certifications provided. Climate change is now top-priority on the international agenda. What is the geopolitical position of Australia on environmental concerns, not just regarding Western countries but also in comparison with ASEAN members?Compared to other high income countries, Australia falls behind when it comes to environmental targets, whether talking about the US, Europe, Japan and even Canada. Australia and Canada are among the richest countries with the least ambitious climate goals, a trend that dates back to Kyoto in 1997. The two countries share characteristics in regards to their richness of energy resources but also to their lack of action. But now the Canadians are starting to make serious environmental commitments, when the Australian are not. Moreover, some lower income countries also take ambitious measures to tackle climate change which puts Australia in an unfavourable position.Regarding the Indo-Pacific, Australia’s stance is starting to become an issue for its export ambitions. For instance, Japanese are now showing reluctance to buying Australian green energy because of the lack of transparency and targets coming from the government and the energy industry. By and large, Australia’s climate stances cause issues in the region, especially in islands in the Pacific. As these islands are facing existential threats due to rise of sea levels, Australia faces new diplomatic and geopolitical tensions with those neighbors. Of course the country also has a tense relationship with China but the environment is not necessarily the main issue between the countries here. At a time when we discuss the acceptability of climate action, does Australia’s climate policy have a divisive effect on the country’s society?The division is not necessarily within the people of Australia but more between society and the very powerful fossil fuel lobbies. If you look at the numbers from surveys, around 80% of the population is supportive of more ambitious climate action. It is important to understand that Australia suffers from a "resource curse". The notion, coined by economists and social scientists, explains that countries that are resource-abundant are undermined by poor economic and political institutions and outcomes; the argument goes that an abundance in natural resources encourages a high concentration of economic and political power. The division is not necessarily within the people of Australia but more between society and the very powerful fossil fuel lobbies. In the last federal election the Labour party brought forward a strong climate action plan to the electorate. Clive Palmer, one of the country’s mining magnates, used his connections and resources to spend $70 million on advertising campaigns aimed at ensuring that the Labor party failed in its attempt to bring attention to climate action. That is more than five dollars per Australian voter spent on advertising. Similarly, ten years ago, when Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd attempted to implement a Resources Super Profits Tax, the mining magnates bought out full pages of ads in the newspapers to criticize the proposal and their campaign helped remove him from office. Another example is Malcolm Turnbull, former leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister before Morrison, who was keen on fostering climate actions and was disposed of by the fossil fuel supporters within his party.These examples show how Australia must deal with a combination of mining and fossil fuel interests, and a media landscape dominated by Rupert Murdoch. We must bear in mind that Rupert Murdoch was born in Australia and started his media empire here. Therefore, the division is not so much within the society itself but rather between the Australian people and these highly powerful private interests. 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