Since the announcement that Australia will bid to co-host COP31 with the Pacific Islands in 2026, Australian climate change leaders within Government and beyond have swung into action.
It’s blue sky thinking time. And the ideas for what is possible are plenty.
This week, we’ve sampled a few. We asked the experts, what’s essential to see from Australia in the lead up to COP31? Here’s what they said.
COP 31: A historic opportunity
If successful, Australia’s bid to host COP31 in 2026 offers a unique opportunity for a paradigm shift in the way the region deals with the significant threat of climate change.
Pacific Island nations and Australia have taken diverging perspectives on what is needed for the long-term interests of the region, its people (inclusive of Australia) and our environment.
Australia’s hosting of COP31 jointly with the Pacific, if done right, provides a historic opportunity for Australia and Pacific Islander nations to present a united front in the interests of the region and the world, as well as achieve real change in terms of climate action and climate justice. However, it should be recognised that many civil society groups and governments are of the view that Australia should take more tangible climate actions and leadership, irrespective of whether it is being granted the right to cohost COP31 with the Pacific countries.
In the lead up to COP31, the Pacific would like to see clear evidence of (but not be limited to) the following:
To achieve this there will need to be a systemic shift in the way the Pacific and Australian governments and non-state actors advocate, campaign and coalesce around:
Alopi Latukefu is a former Australian diplomat and currently Director for Justice and Advocacy, Edmund Rice Community Services & Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education. Corinne Fagueret is Senior Manager for Social Justice & Advocacy & Research, Edmund Rice Centre for Justice & Community Education. Dr Mahendra Kumar is an independent consultant in climate change, energy and environment and provides technical and secretarial support to the Pacific Elders’ Voice. At the Lab we have admired the leadership of these three authors for many years and look forward to watching them continue to shape the way Australia understands people, communities of the Pacific in the lead up to COP 31.
We must reject what we have been taught for more 220 years - that Australia’s global role is to provide raw resources to the big extractive industrial economies. We need to start believing in ourselves. We are not just a quarry and a paddock for the world. We are a creative, innovative, and diverse nation. We can lead the way in creating a nature positive, zero carbon, circular economy that puts community, climate justice and First Nations leadership at its heart.
Through COP, Australia - working with leaders in the Pacific - can move global climate action forward in this way. We can draw the world’s attention to the lessons and leadership across all of Oceania. And we have the potential to create a world first: a southern hemisphere COP Presidencies Troika (a partnership of Australia and the Pacific, Brazil and Southern Africa) with a focus on southern voices, First Nations leadership and climate action at speed and scale.
Australian governments and all other actors - civil society and private sector - must make this the people’s COP. Everyone has a part to play, large or small. Just as the Olympics is not only about the two week event, but also its lasting impact on grassroots sports, our COP31 legacy can be that climate action until 2026 and beyond needs to be everyone's priority.
This is not a pipe dream. It's a real opportunity. A chance to create a turning point for the world. And we must seize it now.
As CEO of WWF Australia, Dermot is a seasoned leader of the development sector who blends a unique passion for the environment and humanity with the skills and ambition to embrace disruption and innovation in sustainability. For the Lab, that makes Dermot an exciting collaborator and we’ll be watching closely both his and WWF's work to capitalise on the opportunity of COP31.
Australia-Pacific Islands COP31: A chance to influence thinking!
Australia’s 2019-2020 bushfires were not a surprise – Aussie communities are resilient and aware of the potentially catastrophic outcomes of seasonal forest fires. However, the effects of the Black Summer fires, reiterated the effects of climate change on Australian communities with over 2500 homes were lost, an estimated one billion wild animals were killed, and thousands of plants and animals were threatened in the New South Wales and Victorian bushfires.
The consequences of changing weather conditions due to climate change have exacerbated this equation, potentially increasing the intensity, gravity, and length of fire events. Bushfires, related to drought and heat, are a part of the climate equation in Australia – as in other countries storms, floods and cyclones cause community emergencies.
How far is Australia ready to go to fight climate-related events? Climate action is not one person's job. Australia’s bid to co-host the COP31 with the Pacific Islands could be a start to show some level of global leadership to pull together resources and influence international thinking about the existential threat we face today.
How climate change has exacerbated the natural vulnerabilities and threatened the long-term well-being and security of the Pacific Islands has been well-established.
The Pacific Islands and other small island development states live in and through the daily catastrophes of extreme weather conditions and sea level rise and have stronger domestic and international narratives to add to global leadership on climate change. Thus, to influence thinking, COP31 can be a platform for Australia’s climate leadership to bring forward the shared identities and interests of the Pacific Islands.
Athaulla A Rasheed is a PhD candidate at The Australian National University. His focus is on international relations and security of small island developing states (SIDS). Rasheed is a former foreign service officer and diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives, and holds a PhD in political science from the University of Queensland, Australia. At the Lab, we enjoy Athaulla’s specialised expertise in small island states and look forward to seeing his research agenda unfold.
