Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected calls for more climate protection in the face of the bushfires raging in his country.
"We will not engage in careless climate goals and give up traditional industries, which would endanger Australian jobs even though the goals have no significant impact on the global climate," he wrote in a newspaper article, according to the Australian news agency AAP.
Morrison acknowledged that there was a need for "real action against climate change" at all levels. The assumption that a tightening of the Australian climate targets could have prevented the bush fires currently raging or extreme weather events is "simply wrong". Earlier, Morrison's deputy Michael McCormack had called for more to be done in the fight against climate change. Morrison rejected this on Channel 9 as "politically motivated".
Hottest days since Australian weather records started
According to the authorities, hundreds of bush fires have already destroyed several million hectares of land in Australia since October. More than 1000 houses have been destroyed. Australia has been suffering from severe drought for about two to three years, and the dried up vegetation is particularly easy to ignite.
According to the Australian Weather Bureau, the country had its hottest days since records began last week. On Wednesday, the national average temperature was 41.9 degrees.
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Morrison's stance could be related to the fact that he has long been considered a supporter of the coal industry. Three quarters of coal production is exported - with a volume of around 67 billion Australian dollars (about 41.8 billion euros) annually.
