Australia’s conservative coalition government will put jobs and the economy ahead of any U.N. demands for it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said Sunday.
Cormann said Australia’s government will work to set new long-term plans addressing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of yet another global climate summit in Glasgow year, however it won’t pursue any net-zero emissions policies that hurt workers in key economic areas.
“If we make the wrong decisions, not only would we be harming the Australian economy, harming Australian workers, we would also be harming the global environment,” Cormann said in an interview on local outlet Sky News.
“Imposing a target in Australia that ultimately just shifts emissions to other parts of the world where emissions will be higher for the same level of economic output doesn’t help solve the problem that we’re wanting to solve, and just imposes a sacrifice on people here in Australia for no environmental benefit whatsoever.”
The government’s stance contrasts with the left-wing opposition Labor party.
It indicated Friday it has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while admitting it has absolutely no idea how much it will cost or what impact it will have on the economy, as Breitbart News reported.
Labor went to the polls last year with a firm commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero but was roundly defeated.
In contrast, Scott Morrison’s Liberal/National conservative coalition government will push ahead with feeding the world’s almost insatiable demand for coal as well as other energy product as deemed necessary to sustain economic growth and stability for Australian workers.
The Australian coal industry employs upwards of 50,000 workers alone.
Australia’s plans will need to account for the production of materials including liquefied natural gas, which is exported to markets like China or Japan, Cormann agreed. “We know that that helps reduce global emissions by more,” he said.
The U.N.’s COP 26 climate summit is set down for Scotland at the end of this year.
Some 30,000 people, including 200 world leaders, are expected to fly in from around the globe for the 10-day conference in Glasgow in November with every attending nation tasked to produce a comprehensive plan for addressing man-made climate change.
The last conference in Madrid ended with no agreement between participants on the issue, as Breitbart New reported.
Instead negotiators from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) pointed the finger of blame at Australia and the U.S. for resisting the call for financial reparations to be sent to “victims” of climate change as well as other major industrial nations which see no reason to support U.N. global climate tax demands.
The U.S. in particular was blamed for refusing to agree to developing countries’ demands for money under what is known in U.N. jargon as the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM).
It did however point out no country in the world gives more to humanitarian aid causes than the U.S. does.
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