Addressing the COP27 talks for the first time as ministerial-level negotiations began at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt,Bowen called for reform of some of the world’s financial institutions.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has addressed the talks for the first time as a minister.Alex Ellinghausen
He said “our international financial architecture was built for a different time”,adding that there was a moral imperative for them to work with developing nations,many of which have been crying out for cheaper finance to help adapt to the warming world.
“Some of our international financial institutions are stepping up to this,our most important global task. Others are not,” Bowen said.
“Just as we commit to this agenda as individual nations,our multilateral development banks – including the World Bank – must be wholeheartedly committed to this,from their purpose to their actions.”
In the lead up to the talks,the World Bank was criticised over its climate spending and there were calls for its president,David Malpass,to resign over comments in which he appeared to question basic climate science.
Noting that announcing goals was easier than meeting them,Bowen said that on his return to Australia he would deliver Australia’s first Annual Climate Change Statement under new climate legislation.
It will be a “comprehensive and transparent stocktake” showing whether the nation is on track to meet the government’s new 43 per cent emissions reduction target,he said.
“The urgency with which we must act requires frank conversations about where we are now,where we are going,and how we are going to get there.”
Shortly before his speech a group of scientific and climate organisations released their annual survey of how the governments of the top 60 greenhouse gas emitting nations are responding.
Australia’s overall ranking moved up four places in between from 59th (6th last ) to 55 (9th last),according to the Climate Change Performance Index report by international think tank Germanwatch,NewClimate Institute and CAN International.
Australia received a ‘very low’ ranking in the categories for ‘greenhouse gas emissions’,‘renewable energy’ and ‘energy use’,as it did last year,but in the climate policy category,it improved from ‘very low’ to ‘low’.
One of the report’s authors,Dr Niklas Höhne,told theHerald andThe Age that it was significant that Australia had not only improved its emissions goal,but legislated because successful countries tended to have climate policies that were set in law so that new governments could not easily reverse them after elections.
He said some countries,like Australia,had a long history of access to cheap energy and needed a cultural shift along with a policy shift to emphasise not only the adoption of renewables but also a reduction in energy use via efficiency measures.
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