A climate change strategy for Australia's foreign aid program has languished in Foreign Minister Marise Payne's office for six months, undermining efforts to bolster ties with Pacific nations who regard global warming as an existential threat.
Foreign aid groups have lashed the delay, which coincides with warnings from military chiefs that China could take advantage of climate change to occupy abandoned islands in the Pacific.
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| A child wades through sludge and water on the Island Republic of Kiribati, which often experiences inundation on high tides and is one of a number of low-lying nations exposed to the worst effects of rising waters due to climate change. James Alcock |
The strategy had its genesis in July 2016, when DFAT elevated climate change as a foreign aid priority, and then foreign minister Julie Bishop gave the green light to preparing the strategy.
DFAT officials said last year the strategy would be made public in late 2018 but Senator Payne told Senate estimates in February she had received a draft version of the strategy that month but was non-committal about when it would be released.
Confirmation of the delay comes as Senator Payne travels to the Cook Islands for bilateral meetings and Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to meet New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern in Melbourne on Friday, where cooperation in the Pacific will feature heavily in talks.
Mr Morrison has made the so-called "Pacific step up" a signature issue of his prime ministership as he seeks to deepen diplomatic and defence ties with Pacific nations, amid a strategic competition with China for regional influence.
Pacific nations have declared climate change the single biggest threat to the region and have criticised the Australian government for not doing enough to respond to the challenge.
The Australian Financial Review revealed earlier this week that Defence Force chief Angus Campbell used a private speech to warn fresh regional tensions could erupt if unnamed states occupied islands that had been abandoned because of rising sea levels.
The Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for aid and development non-government organisations, urged Senator Payne to release the climate strategy, adding it should be the basis of further reform of the aid program.
"As the Boe declaration states – and to which Australia is a signatory – climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific. Yet, we are yet to see action from the Australian government which equates to this recognition," head of government relations Tim Watkin said.
"If we want to be a good neighbour and preferred partner, we must listen, respect and respond to the leaders of the Blue Pacific who consistently identify climate change as their key priority. It should be front and centre of the Pacific ‘step up’.
"As a matter of urgency, the Australian government must recognise the threat of climate change at the highest level of the development program. We think the government should refresh the 2014 aid policy and performance framework to reflect the threat of climate change and the Boe declaration. This would elevate and help mainstream climate change adaptation and resilience in the aid program."
DFAT said it was already integrating climate change action across aid programs. The government was on track to meet its promise of providing $1 billion over five years to 2020 to support countries in the region build resilence and lower emissions, including $300 million for the Pacific, it said in a statement.
"The climate change action strategy for the aid program is being updated to better reflect Australia’s international climate change engagement prior to the Paris Agreement coming into effect in 2020," the statement said.
"Australia recognises Pacific island countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and disasters, and is already working closely with the Pacific on climate change and development issues, as well as interrelated environmental concerns like marine litter."
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