Key Findings of Climate Council report on security in our region: The federal government’s financial support of the fossil fuel industry is actively undermining Australia’s national security

Posted on

1

Climate change increases the risk of conflict and Australia will not find lasting national security without adequately addressing it.

  • ›  Australia faces substantial climate and security risks on its doorstep and without urgent action, climate change will reduce security in our region.
  • ›  Failure to rise to the challenge of climate and security is already leading to a loss of geopolitical influence for Australia, particularly in the Pacific.
  • ›  Water has long been a contested resource in Asia and climate change is worsening the situation. Any conflict over water in our region could have profound consequences for Australia.
  • ›  Pacific Island Countries as well as Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia face significant threats from sea level rise, which
    is likely to increase displacement and forced migration.

2

The federal government’s financial support of the fossil fuel industry is actively undermining Australia’s national security.

› Australia is spending public money in ways that exacerbate climate change, including handing out billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsides.

› Australia failed to use COVID-19 to invest in a renewables-led recovery, spending less than two percent of its economic stimulus money on climate solutions. By comparison, Canada spent 74.5 percent and the UK spent more than 20 percent.

3

Australia has fallen well behind the US, UK, Japan, New Zealand and other peers in analysis of climate and security risks.

  • ›  Climate change needs to figure prominently in Australia’s security thinking and investment, but this is not yet the case.
  • ›  In 2018, a Senate Inquiry called for a national climate and security threat assessment but this has not occurred, and climate change remains on the margins of Australia’s defence, foreign affairs and trade strategies.
  • ›  Other nations and international organisations are rapidly broadening traditional notions of national security in order to address climate security risks.

4

Australia must act rapidly and decisively on climate change in order to maintain the collective security of our region.

› To address the root cause of climate-fuelled insecurity, the science is clear that Australia should reduce its emissions by 75% (below 2005 levels) by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2035.

As a first step, Australia must at least match the updated commitments from our key allies, and pledge before Glasgow to at least half our emissions (below 2005 levels) by 2030.

› Australiacanhelpacceleratedecarbonisation in our region by shifting from fossil fuel exports to clean exports and making smart use of development assistance.

› As part of the 2022-23 Federal Budget papers, the federal government should publish a statement on how the budget as a whole addresses the climate security challenge.

› The Federal Government should urgently complete an Integrated Climate and Security Risk Assessment.

full report: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/CC_MVSA0274_Climate-Security_V8-FA_Low_Res_Single_Pages.pdf

Pledge Your Vote Now
Change language