Anthony Albanese says journalist being "disrespectful" over pre-COP questions
The Prime Minister described a journalists line of questioning as "disrespectful" to Pacific leaders, as Australian-organised pre-COP events face scrutiny. (News24)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed criticism regarding Australia's attendance at a pre-COP climate summit in Fiji and Tuvalu. This event is scheduled to occur in early October, preceding the main COP31 climate talks in November. The UN has issued a report stating that the world is unlikely to keep global warming below 1.8C. The pre-COP summit is set to take place in Fiji and Tuvalu, with Fiji hosting the lead-up event as part of a compromise following Australia's unsuccessful bid to host the main COP31 summit.
Australia had initially sought to have world leaders attend pre-COP before the main climate talks in Turkey. Fiji and Tuvalu are co-hosting the event, with Fiji's Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka revealing that Antigua and Barbuda, Cabo Verde, Thailand, Maldives, and Timor-Leste have agreed to send leaders, while Germany, Mexico, and South Korea will send ministers.
Albanese stated that the government had always expected pre-COP to have fewer attendees compared to COP itself, but acknowledged the importance of the Pacific focus. He expressed displeasure with the line of questioning and emphasized Australia's interest in engaging with the Pacific.
The pre-COP summit in Fiji and Tuvalu aims to highlight the perils of climate change for low-lying island nations in the Pacific and drive greater global action on climate change. However, the participating nations are not major polluters and do not require explicit warnings about climate change risks. Energy Minister Chris Bowen described pre-COP as a "key opportunity" for the Pacific.
A recent UN report warns that the world will likely pass the 1.5C global warming benchmark within the next five years, with a temperature rise of 1.8C being the best-case scenario. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that crossing this threshold risks more severe climate change impacts. Despite the likely overshoot, the Climate Change Authority chair, Matt Kean, emphasized the necessity of urgent climate action.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
