“We had expected there were going to be clear time frames of coal,oil and gas,but there were a number of countries,including Australia,that stopped that from happening.
“Developed countries like Australia are historically responsible for the trouble we are in,having exploited fossil fuel resources for a long time,and in Australia’s case have not taken any significant action to reduce their emissions.”
In a statement,she added that the G20 communique was “weak,lacking both ambition and vision” and that if the Glasgow climate talks were to succeed,“the likes of Australia and Saudi Arabia need to be marginalised”.
Marshall Islands climate envoy Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner told theHerald andThe Age that Australia and the G20 must increase their ambition or her nation would cease to exist.
“We created .00005 per cent of global emission,but we will go underwater at 1.7 degrees. It is outrageous they have not done more,” she said.
Mohamed Adow,director of the think tank Power Shift Africa,said that the “weak” G20 statement was “what happens when developing countries who are bearing the full force of the climate crisis are shut out of the room. The world’s biggest economies comprehensively failed to put climate change on the top of the agenda ahead of COP26 in Glasgow.
“At least the UN process is open to all countries and allows the voice of the climate-vulnerable to be heard. The exclusive club of the G20 is clearly not fit for purpose.