Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Australia must do more for Climate Affected Communities
In the Indian Sundarbans, like in many places of the world, the climate crisis is a current reality. In this ‘age of adaptation’, climate change is not a future possibility – it is a present threat. In this post, Annabel Dulhunty (@AnnabelDulhunty) from the Crawford School of Public Policy discusses how Australia needs to convert rhetoric into reality when it comes to climate change, through meaningful emission reduction and increased aid for communities most impacted.
Frequent cyclones of increased intensity ravage the coastline and the small islands of the Sundarbans. The increased salinity of the soil has threatened the viability of land which the people live off. With Professor Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt (ANU) and Sukanya Banerjee (Rabindra Bharati University, India), I have been working on a project on Ghoramara Island, a small island in the Indian Sundarbans. The population of roughly 1000 families is trapped between adaptation and migration. The community is largely too poor to relocate, with many stuck in makeshift tents on higher ground of the island. Yet adaptation measures are also something of a band-aid solution, with Ghoramara Island projected to be completely submerged by 2050. With men travelling to distant states across India to work in exploitative conditions, it is those left behind who must shoulder the burden of ‘adaptation’: women, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Unfortunately, this example of the climate crisis in action is replicated across multiple communities globally. And the evidence is clear that countries who gained wealth through industrialisation are most responsible for the climate crisis, while poorer countries are those most affected.
So what is Australia’s role in this?
Since the Labor government won the national election in 2022, there has been much renewed discussion about tackling climate change. Very recently, the Government heralded passing the ‘Climate Bill’ through parliament, after negotiation with the Greens. Importantly, this Bill will include a ‘hard cap’ on industrial pollution, which means that it is trickier for big polluters to dodge targets with creative accounting via questionable carbon offsets. Yet this Bill is a far way off ceasing new fossil fuel projects, with 116 new projects planned in Australia.
Australia could certainly go a lot further in its commitment to tackling climate change, for instance by signing the Glasgow Statement, which requires governments to cease public support for fossil fuel projects within one year of signing. Governments such as the U.K., New Zealand and the United States have signed the Glasgow Statement. Instead, the Australian government seems to display much rhetoric about reducing climate emissions while seemingly wanting to avoid the reality of needing to quit fossil fuels.
Beyond the critical step of divesting from fossil fuels, Australia can also play a far greater role in climate justice in the region. Much has been made of the agreement at COP27 to create a ‘Loss and Damage’ fund for countries impacted by the ravages of climate change. While this is an important signifier of the need for rich countries such as Australia to support poorer countries impacted by climate change, there is scope for much evasion. Professor Adil Najam writes that this agreement is essentially a ‘promissory note’ clouded in vague language and voluntary contributions. It is easy to imagine how countries will shirk their duties, particularly when we see how Australia has failed to meet its previous commitments. For example, in 2009 Australia agreed to contribute to a $100bn fund for climate adaptation. Instead of the projected $4 billion required from Australia annually, Australia committed an average of only $400m annually.
Yet the example from the Indian Sundarbans illustrates that global investment is needed not only to facilitate a just energy transition, but also to support multiple communities ravaged by the ongoing present reality of climate change. As the world’s third largest fossil fuel exporter, Australia needs to go beyond its legacy of ‘greenwashing’ overseas aid and creative accounting in fossil fuel emissions if it is to make any meaningful impact on climate change. Using only the rhetoric of climate justice will not go far in aiding communities constantly brutalised by severe climate events.
Dr Annabel Dulhunty is a development studies scholar, former development practitioner and a lecturer in policy and governance at the Crawford School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on global aid policies and how these aid policies impact women and social and economic equality.
Moderator: Laura Davy (@LauraKDavy)