International pressure continues to mount on Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government over its stance on climate change.
In the latest development a number of European ambassadors to Australia have taken the unusual step of criticising the government’s approach to climate change.
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The ambassadors have said that if the the Liberal-National government of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott Abbott succeeds in its efforts to repeal Australia’s carbon price laws government Australia will inevitably have to return to a carbon price.
The ambassadors, speaking at a function at Australian National University, said they were “surprised” and “shocked” that Australia was seeking to remove a carbon price and a market mechanism, and was not including environment issues on the G20 conference it was hosting later this year.
The European Union has previously joined the United States is expressing disappointment with Australia’s decision to drop climate change from the agenda for the G20 summit of world leaders to be held in Brisbane in November.
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Ambassadors, including those of Italy and Sweden, made the rare public criticism at the ANU forum.
“I’m amazed that a Liberal government does not choose a market mechanism to regulate emissions,” the Swedish ambassador Sven-Olof Petersson said.
“I think that is really shocking,” he added.
“We were all a little bit surprised that environment was not considered as one of priority issue,” Pier Francesco Zazo, Italy’s ambassador to Australia, told the ANU forum.
“Sooner or later Australia will go back to this, and understand the importance of the environment.”
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However, a European Union official later told Sky News the EU was confident the issue would end up on the agenda at the G20 after intense lobbying of Australia by international governments.
European leaders, and US President Barack Obama, have also put pressure on Australia to include climate change in the most important meeting of world leaders for the year.
European Union officials have said Australia has become completely “disengaged” on climate change since Mr Abbott’s government was elected in September last year.
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Mr Abbott has already come under increasing pressure to include climate change in the G20 agenda.
President Obama recently sent his G20 emissary, Caroline Atkinson, to Australia to enforce the view.
Ms Atkinson said then that “addressing climate change” was an important issue for leaders in addition to Australia’s priorities of promoting stronger economic growth and employment outcomes.
