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AUSTRALIA

Don't let Vlad's side show distract from the G20's purpose

  • 17 November 2014

The Murdoch press was reporting on Friday that Australian warships had been dispatched to ‘intercept’ the Russian flotilla ‘steaming towards the G20 summit in Brisbane’, suggesting there could be open hostilities between the two countries.

The Daily Telegraph ran with the headline ’Vlad’s naval subterfuge’, as if it was part of a Russian plot to undermine what the Telegraph termed ‘our’ G20.

Such theatrics are as much about Australian media reporting of the ships as they are about the passage of the ships themselves. Could it even be that the press was conspiring with the Abbott Government to undermine the G20 in the wake of the climate change action momentum that was established during the week at APEC? Whatever it was about, it’s clear that more serious heads needed to prevail for the G20 to maintain its relevance and Australia its credentials to host important events that do not concern sport.

The Australian Government was indeed blindsided by the groundbreaking and ambitious emissions target agreement between the US and China at APEC. The US said it would cut emissions by 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025. China pledged to peak emissions around 2030, though it will be aiming to achieve this sooner. Long-term targets present a particular problem for the Abbott Government because deeper emissions cuts would be very expensive under its Direct Action policy.

Obviously the Government feared what opposition leader Bill Shorten was pointing to when he made the optimistic suggestion that the Brisbane G20 ‘could become famous for the fusing of the economic, environmental and security imperatives for climate action’. Shorten imagined that, in the lead-up to next year’s Paris conference, we could be talking about what the ‘Brisbane Declaration’ had to say on climate change. 

Whatever the legacy of the Brisbane G20, the mostly behind the scenes conversation among leaders, and the sharing of conviction that can eventually lead to formal resolutions and action, was all important. That is what would have preceded the resolution on carbon emissions targets at APEC, and it is what many groups mindful of the condition of life for future generations, were quietly hoping for.

One of these groups was the religious leaders from Australia who signed an open letter to leaders of the Brisbane G20. They regard the earth as sacred, and insist that it is our human responsibility to protect it. They say that this requires leaders to commit to a rapid
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