The Albanese government is under fire for failing to deliver on a pre-election promise to deliver a major assessment of domestic climate risks, a crucial step in addressing Australia’s vulnerability to escalating climate impacts.
Despite pledges made before the 2022 federal election, the National Climate Risk Assessment seems to have been put on the backburner and is extremely unlikely to be delivered during this term of government, highlighting what critics call a pattern of “wilful blindness” by the major parties to big-picture climate dangers.
Releasing the 2024 Annual Climate Statement last week, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen painted a rosy picture of the Government’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Despite some commendable efforts, the overall reality is rather different.
Ian Dunlop, former Chair of the Australian Coal Association, explained:
“Domestic emission reductions under the Government;s policies are being negated multiple times over by the emissions from the 28 new coal and gas projects approved since the May 2022 election. The Government refusal to disclose the risks inherent in following this strategy leave Australians dangerously exposed to rapidly worsening climate impacts, and abrogates its first responsibility to ensure the security of the community”.
Mr Dunlop was launching a new report from the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration which paints a grim picture for Australia if the world continues on its present course.
The report, Collision Course: 3 Degrees of Warming and Humanity’s Future, underscores the fatal consequences of failing to act decisively to avoid catastrophic warming and warns that the world is currently on track for warming exceeding 3°C, a scenario that would devastate societies and ecosystems alike.
The report highlights that global temperatures have already reached 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, with the pace of warming accelerating. At 3°C warming, unprecedented extremes of heat, rainfall, flooding, and drought will surpass anything humanity has previously experienced. Sea-level rise of tens of metres will threaten coastal cities and fertile deltas.
Large parts of the tropics will face “near-unliveable” extreme heat, while the dry subtropics including in Australia risk desertification. Much of northern Australia would be unliveable.
Food and water security, societal stability, and global governance structures around the world are likely to collapse under these conditions, according to US and UK security analysts.
The analysis makes clear that current global policies are failing to prevent these outcomes. “There is a chasm in outlook between the global climate policy-making elite, with their focus on distant goals and slow, non-disruptive change, and key researchers who see the world hurtling towards climate breakdown and social collapse,” the report states.
Breakthrough’s findings emphasise the urgent need for Australia to step up as a leader in climate action. Immediate cessation of new coal and gas projects, a comprehensive national assessment of climate risks, and a bold commitment to decarbonising all sectors of the economy are essential steps to safeguard Australia’s future.
The Albanese government’s failure to deliver the promised National Climate Risk Assessment is emblematic of a broader reluctance by both major parties to confront the existential threat posed by climate change, particularly as Australia prepares to go to the polls next year.
Mr Dunlop said:
“The government must also be aware of the scientific evidence that Australian ecosystems are rapidly becoming severely degraded and face collapse, just as the Great Barrier Reef is today. Delaying an assessment in the face of these known risks looks like a government unprepared to face the consequences of its expansion of the coal and gas industries. A 3oC world must be avoided at all costs. The immediate priority is to reduce emissions far faster than currently planned”
Download the report: https://www.breakthroughonline.org.au/collisioncourse
For media inquiries or to request a copy of the report, please contact:
Luke Taylor
0449 641 160
luke@breakthroughonline.org.au