Australia - Tuvalu sign resettlement treaty over existential rising seas climate threat: Australia –Tuvalu Falepili Union

Australia –Tuvalu Falepili Union

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has signed an agreement with the Tuvalu PM, Kausea Natano, to set up “a union” between the two countries.

The arrangement will offer a special visa that offers safe residency to the people of Tuvalu so they can work, live and study in Australia because of the impacts of climate change.

The agreement was made at the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands. It will see 280 people per year given a "special mobility pathway" to "live, work and study" in Australia. Tuvalu is a low lying Pacific nation with about 11,000 people.

In return, Australia will have effective veto power over Tuvalu's security arrangements with any other country.

The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union comprises a bilateral treaty between Tuvalu and Australia, as well as a commitment articulated in a joint leaders' statement (see below) to uplift broader bilateral partnership.

"Falepili" is a Tuvaluan word for the traditional values of good neighbourliness, care and mutual respect.

The Treaty comes as the Queensland government approved new fossil fuel projects: incentivised a new frontier in gas exploration program in the Bowen and Galilee Basin and granted a coal mine extension. Since the Federal Labor Government has come to power it has approved 10 new or extended coal and gas projects, and committed $1.5 billion for the Darwin Middlearm petrochemical hub that will include an LNG plant for export of Beetaloo fracked Gas.

Guest Post: 26 years ago, Howard chose fossil fuels over the Pacific. What will Albanese choose? Wesley Morgan explains

One issue, two prime ministers on the same island, 26 years apart. Shutterstock

Wesley Morgan, Griffith University

Hot on the heels of trips to Washington and Beijing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is now in the Cook Islands for the Pacific Island Forum. There, he will aim to strengthen relations with Pacific countries and reaffirm Australia’s place as a security partner of choice.

But to do that, he’ll have to repair a historic split from when former prime minister John Howard met with Pacific leaders on the same island, Aitutaki, a quarter of a century ago to defend his choice to expand Australia’s fossil fuel industries.

Pacific leaders see climate change as by far their greatest security threat. Sea level rise, stronger cyclones, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification pose existential threats. They will ask Albanese to support a regional declaration for a phaseout of fossil fuels.

What will happen on the atoll? We could see history repeat – Pacific outrage, Australian intransigence. Or we could see a better outcome, if Albanese signals Australia is at last ready to move away from fossil fuels.

High Ambition Coalition calls for End to Fossil Fuels and Move Towards a Clean Energy World in leadup to COP28

While Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lauded joining the Climate Club as Australia stepping up in climate policy ambition, the real ambition was outlined in a statement by the High Ambition Coalition last Friday, 14 July 2023, calling for Ending the Fossil Fuel Era & Move Towards a Clean Energy World.

If Australia has true climate ambition it should join the High Ambition Coalition and implement policies that reflect actual high climate ambition, not just rhetoric.

For a brief period at COP21 in Paris in 2015 Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for Australia did endorse the High Ambition Coalition 1.5C target that formed the basis of the Paris Agreement. But we didn't carry through with any  follow up climate policy commitments to justify membership of the Coalition.

Australia joins the Climate Club but PM evades question of Fossil fuel expansion and export

Guardian Cartoon by Fiona Katsaukas

On Tuesday 11 July Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committed Australia to joining the 'Climate Club' while visiting Germany. 

While this sounds like a positive action there are no detailed commitments or changes required in Australia's climate policy direction, according to Prime Minister Albanese. 

Many people think this is more rhetoric rather than climate action.

The club is an initiative in 2022 of German Chancellor Olav Scholz, from the Social Democratic Party, whose ruling coalition is made up of parties from the centre-right to the Greens.

The ABC analysis article talks about the central tenets of the club: 

• Designed to help lower emissions by pressing governments to put a minimum price on carbon.
• That countries with a carbon price should tax imports from countries without one, via a Carbon Border Adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
• The idea is that these twin policies will foster a world in which economic growth can continue, but be decoupled from carbon emissions almost completely by 2050. 

Australia commits to Global Nature Pledge to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 during UN General Assembly

More than 93 countries have signed the Global Leaders Pledge for Nature for Sustainable Development to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese just committed Australia to this pladge. The previous government of Scott Morrison refused to act on this pledge.

The pledge was developed by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Belize, Bhutan, Colombia, Costa Rica, the EU, Finland, Kenya, Seychelles, the UK and an alliance of organisations.

It is part of the UN convention on Biological Diversity which is considering a new global draft agreement (PDF) for adoption at Montreal, Canada, from 7 - 19 December 2022  Conference of the Parties meeting (COP15). This is a landmark agreement addressing the biodiversity crisis, an equivalent for what the Paris Agreement did for climate change.

Morrison Net Zero 2050 Plan a fraud, with plans to double coal exports, new gas expansion

Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor with 'Net zero Plan' slide

Prime Minister Scott Morrison accompanied by Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor announced Australia's commitment to Net Zero by 2050. But there will be no change to the 26-28% emissions reduction target by 2030 that was submitted in 2015 to the Paris Agreement.

ABC political analyst Laura Tingle commented "All this time to wait for a 15 page slide set with literally nothing new in it...." and "The plan is based on our existing policies".

Australia is taking a technology not taxes meet and cheat projection to Glasgow, which is another way of climate delay and denial while expanding fossil fuel production. 

"You will be supported by our data projection that will see us exceed our 2030 target with emissions reduction of up to 35% by 2030. We will keep our commitment, though, when it comes to our pledge that we made, and took to the last election of 26 to 28%, but we will meet it, and we will beat it. And we’ll beat it with emissions reductions we believe about the 35%." said Morrison. 

Yeah the work of all the states will see Australia achieve 37-42% emissions reduction. Federal Government doing SFA according to modelling on 2030 climate targets.

"This is the right plan for Australia – to summarise the outcome from it, which we’ll see in the plan, Australians $2,000 better off on average in 2050 compared with no Australian action." says Angus Taylor. 

But acting fast with renewables with strong 2030 targets showed citizens would be $5000 better off according to Business Council of Australia report. Guardian Australia Politics Live

Find below Ministerial press release, video of the press conference, some twitter commentary, and statements by Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and shadow Climate spokesperson Chris Bowen.