Australia urged not to rely on 'drug dealer's defence' for gas exports and help wean Japan off fossil fuels

Source: The Guardian

Australia urged not to rely on ‘drug dealer’s defence’ for gas exports and help wean Japan off fossil fuels

Diplomats for Climate group says if government wants to use that defence ‘it needs to be the dealer who takes their clients to rehab and supports them off their habit’

Adam Morton Climate and environment editor
Mon 4 Dec 2023 14.00 GMT
Last modified on Mon 4 Dec 2023 22.34 GMT

The Albanese government should do more to leverage its relationship with Japan – arguably the world’s most important energy partnership – to help its trading partner move away from gas and towards a rapid and ambitious decarbonisation, former diplomats say.

Diplomats for Climate, an organisation supported by more than 100 former Australian officials, says “the future of gas lies in the ground” but that a ban on new fossil fuel developments – the focus of a growing community campaign that argues that is what the scientific evidence demands – would not cut global emissions unless international demand was reduced.

Australia is one of the world’s three biggest fossil fuel exporters but the ex-diplomats say its coal and gas exports meet only about 4.8% and 2.8% of global demand respectively. They say Australia’s supply would likely be replaced by other exporting countries if it simply stopped.

In a submission to the government on the future of the gas industry before the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, Diplomats for Climate said it placed an onus on Australia to leverage “its strong reputation and history as a reliable energy supplier” to encourage its trading partners to quickly cut reliance on fossil fuels. That meant not merely relying on the “drug dealer’s defence” – arguing that if Australia did not sell a harmful product, someone else would.

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Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/05/australia-urged-not-to-rely-on-drug-dealers-defence-for-gas-exports-and-help-wean-japan-off-fossil-fuels