Yesterday we reported that Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop went 'bananas' over Abbott appointing a chaperone to attend the Lima COP with her for climate change negotiations.
Bishop was perviously thought to be the leading Australia's international climate negotiations at the COP on her own.
"'Fairfax Media reported on Sunday that Mr Abbott personally requested Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb – one of the Coalition’s early opponents of emissions trading – accompany Ms Bishop to climate change talks in Lima, Peru later this month.'
According to Fairfax Media this move was a clear sign that Abbott is worried that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop would go 'too green' at the COP20. Mr Robb would be there to ensure that any new domestic carbon reduction commitments would be structured around Australia’s economic impacts."
Today Bishop has denied these claims.
"Why would I be angry at being accompanied by a minister to a very important climate change conference?" Julie Bishop asked journalists.
"Minister Robb will be overseas next week and I will be in Lima and it is an efficient use of our time to have two ministers at the conference."
Perhaps the most surprising news this morning is Bishop's call for "strong" greenhouse gas emission cuts by Paris 2015.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports:
"Speaking to Fairfax Media during her recent trip to New York, Ms Bishop said she wanted to see Australia deliver 'an appropriate, proportionate, strong commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions', in any new climate agreement struck in Paris this time next year.
Mr Abbott has also said that he wants to see 'strong and effective' outcomes from the international community at the Paris conference and warned 'we can't pursue environmental improvements at the expense of economic progress'.
A review into Australia's post 2020 targets is under way and Ms Bishop said whatever Australia does will be 'informed by' what China and the United States does.
And in a coded criticism of the deal President Barack Obama recently struck with Chinese president Xi Jinping, Ms Bishop cast doubt on the success of any new treaty 'unless countries are prepared to commit to binding targets' because 'they're just aspirations' otherwise.
'China's commitment has been that it expects in 2030 its energy usage will peak and they expect that by then they'll be able to embrace 20 per cent renewable but that still means 80 per cent from presumably fossil fuels,' she said.
'Whatever reductions we're able to achieve over the next decade will be completely wiped out by the increase in emissions from China up to 2030,' she said."
This message directly contradicts news that Australia has dropped the Cartagena group down on it's list of priorities.
Renew Economy explains:
"Australia, along with the UK and other countries, co-founded the Cartagena Dialogue for Progressive Action in 2010 after the collapse of the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009. It was designed to try and secure the “middle ground” in the often fractious climate change negotiations, and was highly influential at the Cancun and Durban talks in particular in bridging the gap between developing and developed nations.
Officially, the dialogue is open to countries working towards an “ambitious, comprehensive, and legally binding regime in the UNFCCC, and committed, domestically, to becoming or remaining low carbon economies.” That doesn’t sound like Australia right now. Although it should be noted that not all Cartagena’s 30-something members, such as New Zealand, which acts as its spokesman, agree with principal of binding targets.
Australia has not formally cut ties with the Cartagena group (yet), but it has not taken part in official Cartagena talks or activities at Lima. That may be partly explained by the fact that Australia has arrived in Lima with just 14 delegates (not 12 as we reported before) – its lowest in 20 years – and is effectively short-staffed. Delegates from other countries say that Australia’s voice is barely heard in comparison with previous talks."
The ultimate of goal of the Lima COP will be to agree on a draft document for nations commitment for Paris, COP21. While Australia's commitments may be ambiguous, the Climate Institute shares some good news from Germany. The German Cabinet is confident that it can meet its climate targets in tandem with economic growth, this will include measures to reduce emissions by 22 million tonnes by 2020 in the power sector; the equivalent of closing eight coal plants.
"Germany's move towards coal plant closures is part of a broader package of emission reduction measures to ensure the country meets its target of 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. The German news builds on the announcement last week by Germany's biggest utility, E.ON, to split off its fossil fuel assets.
'This is the beginning of the end of traditional coal-fired generation (without CCS) in Germany,' said John Connor, CEO of The Climate Institute.
'Around the world, countries and companies with a reliance on traditional fossil fuels are increasingly at risk. The heat is on.'
If the Foreign Affairs Minister is really serious about climate action, perhaps she'll take time out of her COP schedule to meet with 1 Million Women Founder, Nat, who we are very excited to announce is attending the Lima COP next week.
Nat will be giving us a first hand look at what many diplomats are calling the best chance in a generation of striking a deal for real climate action. Stay tuned for exciting news and updates.