The flames that have swept over 11 million hectares in Australia these months and killed 33 people have fueled an old national debate: the need to reduce their immense energy dependence on coal. This highly polluting mineral is one of the biggest culprits of climate change, one of the triggers of the fierce wave of fires the country has suffered - on February 13, the authorities of New South Wales, the area most affected by Flames, they first announced that the fires are under control. From coal comes 75% of the electricity currently produced, according to government data. The current Administration has defended on numerous occasions the exploitation of this mineral with measures such as the opening, in April 2019, of the controversial Adani mine, in Aboriginal lands.
MORE INFORMATION
Fires catch 4,000 people on a beach in southeastern Australia
High temperatures cause 35 new fires in Australia
But due to the fires, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has begun to change his speech slightly. ScoMo (as it is popularly known) said in January that the Government will continue to progressively develop its energy policy to “further reduce” greenhouse gas emissions. But immediately afterwards, he hastened to rule out the possibility of imposing a rate on the emission of carbon dioxide like the one promoted in 2011 by the Labor Government of Julia Gillard. A law that two years later was repealed by the coalition, the union of right-wing parties that Morrison now leads.
"The repeal of this law, which made Australia the first country in the world to remove a national carbon tax, occurred despite the fact that it proved to have great success in reducing CO2 emissions," explains Penelope Crossley, Associate Professor in the Law School of the University of Sydney. Currently, the country is the third largest exporter of fossil fuels, according to data from the Australia Institute ideas laboratory. The pressures for Morrison to take measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions come mostly from the opposition (with the greens and the Labor leaders) and from the environmental groups; but also within its own party, which brings conservatives and liberals together. The latter saw the change of speech of the prime minister as a victory. "I am excited that we will begin to move in the right direction, but we have much more to do," said Katie Allen, a liberal deputy, following Morrison's statements.
One of the most used arguments by the current Government is that Australia is responsible for only 1.3% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, any action carried out will have to be global, not by a single country. “Many argue that Australia's emissions are small worldwide, but this research shows the opposite. Our domestic emissions are large and our export emissions are even greater, ”said Richie Merzian, director of the Australia Institute's climate and energy program, in a study published by this ideas lab in August.
Australia is today the OECD country that emits more greenhouse gases per capita. In the world, it is only surpassed by some small states that are primarily dedicated to the production of oil such as Qatar, according to data from the Australia Institute.
The challenge of the Paris Agreement
Australia, by signing the agreement for the Paris climate of 2016, promised to reduce its emissions between 26% and 28% by 2030, compared to its 2005 levels. From the Government they assure that they will reach that goal thanks to the “ carry-over credits ”, which represent the amount of carbon dioxide in which Australia exceeded the objectives demanded by the previous climate pact, the Kyoto protocol. If so, it would be the only country that will use this tool to meet the objective of reducing emissions, they admitted from the Executive.
“We are taking real measures on climate change and getting results. Australia's internal and global critics voluntarily ignore or ignore our achievements, ”said Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the UN last September.