Climate Change, Poverty and AustraliaA TEAR Australia Policy Briefing

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There is so much information available and lobbying being done on climate change already. As TEAR supporters our priority is not to provide more technical or policy information but to share our collective story of grief over this brokenness in God’s world, our hope for restoration, and our shared responsibility to take action. Our aim for supporters’ meetings with MPs is to show our politicians that their constituents – even the unlikely Christian ones! - care deeply about climate change and want their politicians to take action. This means you don’t have to be an expert on climate change policy: your role is rather to speak plainly and from the heart about why this issue is important to you.

We suggest that you start by sharing our story of concern for the climate, outlining the need and opportunities for a bold national climate plan, and then asking what specific actions your MP would be willing to take.

What to cover in your MP meeting?

Share our climate change story1. Climate change is rapidly escalating, and it’s an issue we care about as Christians.2. Australia is not doing its fair share when it comes to addressing climate change. Our commitments are far below

what is required and expected, and we are not even meeting those commitments.3. As Christians, we feel the burden of this brokenness in God’s world. This is an opportunity for you to share what

personally touches and concerns you about this issue: you might speak of your heart for those living in poverty in developing countries who are most vulnerable to climate change, or your concerns for the future of our next generation such as your children, or fear about how climate change will lead to increased insecurity in our region. Sharing personal stories or concerns can open up more vulnerable and constructive dialogue in the meeting and that will help your MP to connect authentically with what you are trying to say.

4. As Christians, we also feel hope that the world’s restoration is possible if we take action: there is general consensus (such as through the Paris Agreement) about what needs to be done. We have all the resources we need to address climate change – especially in Australia. We need our politicians to play their part in taking action.

5. We are asking you, our political leader, to step up and take the lead on this action. We know your position comes with great responsibility, and you feel the burden of many issues – as we do of this one. There is clear support amongst the Australian constituency to act on this now: In a recent poll, more than 80% of Australians want the Government to enhance their climate action, and more than 90% want to see more renewable energy. Furthermore the 2019 Lowy Institute poll revealed Australians regard climate change as the greatest threat to Australia’s vital interests. The need is critical. The power is in your hands to take action.

1 Hanrahan C (2019) Federal election 2019: Vote Compass finds broad desire for more action on climate change. Retrieved from ABC News website: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-15/federal-election-vote-compass-climate-change/11110912 cited in https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/

2 Lowy Institute Poll 2019, https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/lowy-institute-poll-2019

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A bold national climate plan: the need and the opportunities Reducing emissionsThe United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recommended that to limit the effects of global warming, global emissions must be roughly halved by 2030 and reach zero by 2050 at the latest.

We have the science and the resources to make the changes required to reach these targets. What we now desperately need is a bold and credible national climate plan to bring about necessary changes at the pace required.

In 2020 Australia will update our progress and commitments to reduce emissions – our “Nationally Determined Contribution” (NDC). This is a critical opportunity to signal that Australia is convicted on this issue and are willing to make the changes that science tells us are necessary to restore the brokenness of our world. Australia must present a bold national climate plan, including addressing how our emissions reductions are actually tracking against even our low Paris Agreement commitment, rule out relying on emissions points carried over from the Kyoto Protocol, and indicate plans for further reductions post 2030.

3 IPCC (2018) Summary for Policymakers, https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

4 ClimateWorks Australia (2015) A prosperous, net zero pollution Australia starts today, cited in The Climate Council (2019) Climate cuts, cover-ups and censorship, Climate Council of Australia, https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Climate-Cuts-Cover-Ups-and-Censorship.pdf; Skarbek A (2018) Australia is not on track to reach 2030 Paris target (but the potential is there), The Conversation - http://theconversation.com/australia-is-not-on-track-to-reach-2030-paris-target-but-the-potential-is-there-102725

5 The Australian Government has stated it intends to “carry over” surplus emission units from the Kyoto Protocol towards its Paris Agreement target. In real terms, this would mean only a 15% reduction on 2005 levels by 2030. This is a dubious accounting method, and something that a number of other countries with such carry overs have explicitly rejected.

We are asking our political leaders to commit to a

bold and credible national climate plan, including substantially increased emissions reductions targets.

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Financing Climate ActionWe can do so much more to support our neighbours in developing countries adapt and build their resilience to climate change , by mobilising more dedicated finance towards this in the aid budget.

As Australia’s Foreign Policy focuses on the Pacific Step Up, it is vital that we listen to the call from Pacific neighbours on the importance of Australian action on climate change as well as financial support for our neighbours to adapt and build climate-resilience.

In the 2019/20 Federal Budget, the Government allocated $200million to climate finance initiatives in line with its $1 billion by 2020 commitment under the Paris Agreement. However, this target is extremely weak and isn’t commensurate with Australia’s ‘fair share’.

Australian aid is effective: this is a fact supported by both the 2011 Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness and, more recently, the Performance of Australian Aid 2013-14 report. The work of TEAR Australia’s international partners provides countless examples of the transformative effect of Australian aid. With greater financial contribution and use of our global influence, Australia can play a significant role in assisting in developing countries to contribute to building a sustainable, climate-resilient future.

We are asking our political leaders to mobilise dedicated finance from within a growing aid budget to our assist our neighbours in developing

countries adapt and build their resilience to climate change.

6 Department of Foreign Affairs (2019) Climate Change Action Strategy: Tackling Climate Change through Australia’s Development Assistance Program 2020-2025 (Australian Government, Canberra).

7 Commonwealth of Australia (2011) Independent Review of Aid Effectiveness (Australian Government, Canberra).

8 Department of Foreign Affairs (2015) Performance of Australian Aid 2013-14 (Australian Government, Canberra).

What might a bold and credible national plan include?You are not expected to be a policy expert, but you may find it helpful to understand broadly what might be needed in a strong national plan to meet the emissions reductions that the United Nations’ IPCC has said are required:

• Policies that make the most of our technologies and resources to achieve net zero emissions by 2050

• Renewable energy and a pathway to new industries

• Keeping coal in the ground: this would mean moving away from being the world’s largest exporter of coal and countering the influence of the mining lobby

• Just transitions for affected workers and communities

• Support for sustainable agriculture to help farmers adapt here and overseas in communities facing hunger

• Transparent publishing of plans of how Australia will reach zero emissions

• Political will – and support across divides

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9 Climate Council (May 2019) Climate Policies of Major Political Parties

10 Carry-over Credits and Carbon Offsets are Hot Topics this Election – but what do they actually mean? Alan Pears and Tim Baxter, The Conversation, 10 May 2019. https://theconversation.com/carry-over-credits-and-carbon-offsets-are-hot-topics-this-election-but-what-do-they-actually-mean-116748

Key points for your MP Meeting: 1. Ask your MP what their response and commitments are in relation to the above asks for:• a bold and credible national climate plan, and • aid budget funding to help developing countries adapt and build resilience to

climate change.

2. Ask your MP which of the following they will be willing do as an individual action: • Let us pray with you for the world, and for you to have wisdom and courage in

addressing this issue.• Take a photo and share on social media that you have met with us today to

talk about climate change action.• Take the lead in your party about the future we face due to climate change

and the cost of doing nothing:• Speak to your colleagues about this issue and form a cohort of MPs

who want to see more action. • Write to the relevant Minister(s) and the Prime Minister expressing

your concern about Australia’s future and role in climate change action.

• Take the issue up in the party room.• Take a public stance to get wheels turning:

• Make a public speech or position on the issue of climate change and the need to take further action on this.

• Raise the issue through a parliamentary speech or committee question.

• Introduce a Motion or Bill into Parliament, for example declaring a climate emergency.

Preparing for your meeting: some background

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What might your MP say about climate change? Major Political Parties’ Positions on Climate Change

Coalition Labor GreensEmissions Reduction Target

26-28% by 2030 on 2005 levels, relying on carry over of points from Kyoto Agreement which in real terms would mean only a 15% reduction on 2005 levels by 2030. Australia, as a signatory to the Paris Agreement on cli-mate change, has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

45% reduction on 2005 levels by 2030. Net zero emissions by 2050.

This may be reviewed, along with other policies, after La-bor’s 2019 election loss.

63-82% reduction by 2030 on a trajectory to get emis-sions to net zero by 2040. Net zero or net negative Australian greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2040.

Renewable energy Committed to 23.5% re-newables by 2020 but do not have a post-2020 renewable energy target.

50% renewables by 2030. 100% renewables by 2030.

Coal No plans to phase out coal. Recognise coal plants will close but no plans to phase out coal.

Phase out thermal coal by setting a yearly limit on coal exports from 2020 reducing each year until a full-phase out in 2030.

Agriculture and land management

Climate Solutions Fund aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the economy through the existing Emissions Reduction Fund, including giving farmers sup-port to revegetate degraded land, improving water quality, reducing erosion and salinity, and drought proofing farms.

Reducing pollution on the land by reinvigorating the Carbon Farming Initiative to supply carbon offsets and reduce pollution on the land, and taking action to deal with broad-scale land clearing. The agricultural sector would be exempt from the expand-ed safeguard mechanism.

By abolishing the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF re-cently rebadged as the LNP’s Climate Solutions Fund) and re-establishing the Carbon Farming Initiative. Farmers and land manag-ers would be supported to protect and grow the capac-ity of their land to drawdown carbon.

9 Climate Council (May 2019) Climate Policies of Major Political Parties

10 Carry-over Credits and Carbon Offsets are Hot Topics this Election – but what do they actually mean? Alan Pears and Tim Baxter, The Conversation, 10 May 2019. https://theconversation.com/carry-over-credits-and-carbon-offsets-are-hot-topics-this-election-but-what-do-they-actually-mean-116748

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Common objections raised by politicians to climate change action (and responses)

‘We don’t want to be alarmed by unknown threats’The threats may seem alarming, but they are also known. In Australia, according to reports from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Climate Council, the impacts of global warming include:

• Effects on the quality, availability and prices of food in Australia (such as reduced yields in milk and important crops),

• Challenges to Australia’s international competitiveness in many agricultural markets,

• Water scarcity,

• An increase in the frequency of extreme heat events and flooding,

• A long-term increase in extreme fire weather,

• More time in drought,

• Rising sea levels, increasing the risk of inundation.

• Our response to these alarms should be urgent action, not denial.

In the long term, taking preventative measures now will be cheaper than responding to the consequences later: in both financial terms and in human well-being and suffering.

‘It isn’t happening’ or ‘it will go away naturally’The world’s scientific community tells us that climate change is happening. There is overwhelming consensus – 97% of climate experts agree that the world is warming, and human are the cause of it. Further, it won’t just go away. We have already reached 1°C of warming, and while it is possible to limit this to 1.5°C, the United Nation’s IPCC has advised this will require urgent, rapid and transformative changes: global emissions must be roughly halved by 2030 and reach zero by 2050. The rate of the reductions from now until 2030 is key.

‘Australia is on track to meet its international obligations and the Paris Agreement’This is simply not true. The 2018 projections by the Department for the Environment and Energy show that Australia is on track to reduce its emissions by just 7 per cent. This is far below the 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 that we committed to, and the reduction of around 50% by 2030 that the United Nations’ IPCC has advised is necessary to limit the impact of climate change. Australia lacks a bold and credible national plan to reach or even step up on the Paris Agreement. Australia’s current plans have been described by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as ‘piecemeal’ and ‘falling short’. Australia may be doing commendable work in terms of cleaning oceans and conservation, however this does not compare to the need for urgent transformative change to our carbon emissions.

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11 Cook, J., Oreskes, N., Doran, P. T., Anderegg, W. R., Verheggen, B., Maibach, E. W., ... & Nuccitelli, D. (2016). Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters, 11(4), 048002.

12 The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO (2018) State of the climate 2018, https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/OandA/Areas/Assessing-our-climate/State-of-the-Climate-2018/Report-at-a-glance

13 Feeding a hungry nation: climate change, food and farming in Australia. Climate Council, 2015, https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/7579c324216d1e76e8a50095aac45d66.pdf

14 Department of the Environment and Energy (2018) Australia’s Emissions Projections 2018

15 OECD (2019) OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Australia 2019. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264310452-en cited in https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/

‘Australia is too small, let others fix it. We are playing a reasonable role’

Australia is actually a significant player: we remain the world’s largest exporter of coal.

Tackling this global crisis requires all nations to play their role, and Australia is actually not currently even meeting its low commitments

through the Paris Agreement, let alone the higher levels of carbon emission reductions that the

United Nations’ IPCC has advised are necessary to limit the effects of global warming.

‘Coal is good for the economy’We cannot afford to continue as the world’s biggest exporter of coal and continue to rely on coal domestically because of the impacts it is already having on our environment which will cause devastating effects here in Australia and all around the world. Moving to a clean energy future can be positive for jobs in Australia. Whenever new technologies have been introduced, it has meant job losses in one area and more job opportunities in others. Ultimately, it will be cheaper to tackle climate change and clean energy policies now with a cohesive national plan than to wait until the damage and effects become more dramatic.

‘Big systemic changes will hurt jobs and household budgets’We understand the Government’s concern for families and people doing it tough. Our faith propels us to advocate for the people already hurting in communities feeling the effects of climate change, and those who will be most vulnerable to its effects. We believe in ‘just transitions,’ and believe in policies that support families and communities doing it tough. On the other hand, it cannot be used as an excuse to delay systemic changes required to address climate change such as the transition to renewable energy. We must balance ‘just transition’ policies with a push for urgent transition as the ramifications for these families and communities, and Australia as a whole, will be worse if we keep a ‘business as usual.’

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TEAR AustraliaWe’re focused in places of great need, partnering with local Christian agencies to end poverty, challenge inequality and build sustainable communities. Together, we act with courage, tackling injustice in order that all may experience fullness of life.

National Office:PO Box 164 Blackburn Victoria 3130 1/4 Solwood Lane Blackburn Victoria 3130 ABN 85 085 413 832

Toll Free: 1800 244 986 T: (03) 9264 7000 E: info@tear.org.au Website: www.tear.org.au

This publication works best when used concurrently with TEAR Policy Briefing Deep Guide