(AU ABC) Leaked Documents Show Australia Lobbied To Change Key IPCC Climate Change Report, Greenpeace Says

ABC News - Nick Dole

Greenpeace says Australian lobbied to change IPCC climate change report

Key Points The leaked documents show Australia sought to change a draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Japan and Argentina were also reported to have attempted to water down language in the report The federal government says the leaked portions "mischaracterised" Australia's position and the process itself

Australia sought to change a major international report on climate change to promote a future for coal-fired power and downplay the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists, the environmental group Greenpeace says.

Documents leaked to Greenpeace's Unearthed investigations project, and seen by the ABC, detail Australia's comments and criticisms of a draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is yet to be published.

While government feedback is a normal part of the IPCC process, Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said the leak provided an insight into the "secret world of what governments really think about the climate emergency".

In one instance, an Australian government official objected to a paragraph calling for a halt to the construction of new coal-fired power stations and the retirement of existing coal plants.

According to the documents, the official from the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said coal-fired power still had a future thanks to carbon capture and storage.

"These remarks confuse the objective (eliminating emissions) with the means 'retiring existing coal-fired power'," the official wrote.

They added that carbon capture and storage "remains relevant to zero emissions".

Australia also objected to a paragraph claiming that campaigns by fossil fuel industries had slowed progress on climate action.

"Campaigns by oil and coal companies against climate action in the US and Australia are perhaps the most well-known," the draft report stated.

But the Australian official called for the deletion of the paragraph, calling it a "political viewpoint made to seem factual".

The Minerals Council of Australia has long promoted the role of coal in providing cheap energy and jobs and it has run national advertising campaigns about the virtues of the "little black rock".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who once brandished a lump of coal in parliament, has previously hired senior Minerals Council executives as his trusted advisors.

Scott Morrison used a lump of coal to make a point during Question Time in 2017. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty)

Mr Sauven said Australia's objection was "laughable".

"[It] is so well-documented in terms of what the fossil fuel industry around the world has been doing over many decades," he said.

Australia denies 'meddling'

The ABC has only seen three comments attributed to Australian officials. A spokesperson for Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the leaked portions mischaracterised Australia’s position and the process itself.

"All governments are invited to comment on draft IPCC reports as a matter of process," the spokesperson said.

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"All comments received by the IPCC are published with their reports as they are finalised.

"This ensures complete transparency.

"The assertion that commenting on a draft is somehow 'interference' is categorically false."

The Australian government's feedback was published as part of a much wider leak of 32,000 responses from governments and other interested parties, which was shared with the BBC

Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Japan and Argentina were among the other countries attempting to water down the language, the BBC reported.

Joeri Rogelj, an IPCC author and director of research at the Grantham Institute, told the BBC the content of the leak was not surprising.

"The review process and receiving of comments by governments, industry groups, other scientists or sometimes even science-deniers is a core part of the review process of how these reports are being written," Dr Rogelj said.

He said the suggested changes are not adopted if they are not backed by science.

"If we have comments that challenge us and that asks us to remove something, that only motivates us to take a closer look at the evidence and make sure that what we write is fully correct and fully supported," he said.

Documents suggest Australia also asked to be removed from a list of big coal-consuming countries.

The draft report said "major coal-consuming countries are still far from phasing out coal".

"China, the US, Australia and South Africa continue to extract and use substantial amounts of coal," it said.

The official in Canberra noted Australia's consumption was "an order of magnitude lower" than the other countries listed.

Analysis from analytics firm Ember ranks Australia as the world's 10th biggest coal-fired power generator.

Australia remains one of the world's biggest coal producers and exporters.

Australia's attitude 'tragic', Greenpeace says

It is not the first time Australian officials have sought to influence language on climate change commitments.

Earlier this month, a leaked email suggested the British government dropped a reference to Paris Agreement temperature goals in order to get a free trade deal with Australia over the line.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison later defended Australia's position.

"It wasn't a climate agreement, it was a trade agreement," he told reporters.

"In trade agreements I deal with trade issues.

"In climate agreements I deal with climate issues."

Greenpeace said the Australian government lacked ambition ahead of the COP26 climate summit, which was "tragic" considering the impact of recent natural disasters.

John Sauven is an executive director at Greenpeace. (ABC News: Andrew Greaves)

"We need to really act now if we're going to prevent catastrophic damage happening in the near and mid-term," Mr Sauven told the ABC.

"And I think that's what we would expect a country like Australia to do.

"It's very rich in renewable resources, it's a wealthy country – it could really be a key part of the solution.”

Links

• (BBC) COP26: Document Leak Reveals Nations Lobbying To Change Key Climate Report
• The Australian Government Reportedly Tried To Downplay The Impact Of Coal In A New IPCC Report
• Leaked documents reveal the fossil fuel and meat producing countries lobbying against climate action
• Australia sought to weaken UN climate report on need to close coal-fired power stations, leak suggests
• Leaked documents show major polluters trying to water down UN climate report
• Documents appear to show department official trying to water down IPCC report, advocates say
• Expert reaction to BBC/Greenpeace exposé of governments lobbying IPCC climate science
• Nationals' demands for supporting net zero finalised, but will remain confidential
• Australia's third-richest person to invest $1.5b in fight against climate change
• Climate commitments allegedly removed from UK trade deal due to Australian pressure