2023-08-04
The Greens are calling on the Prime Minister and the government to immediately release a declassified version of the Office of National Intelligence’s Climate Risk Assessment and allow the public to understand the assessed dangers of the climate crisis to Australia.
Former Australian defence chief Chris Barrie called for the report to be released in April, and today think tank Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration speculated that the report would contain warnings of political instability in the Asia Pacific region, conflict over water shortages, forced migration displacement and disruptions to critical supply chains.
The equivalent US National Intelligence Assessment and Pentagon climate risk assessments are made public and the Pacific Islands Forum has recently released its own climate security risk assessment as well.
Attributable to Acting Greens Leader Mehreen Faruqi:
“Labor is sitting on a report full of explosive truths about how their coal and gas capitulations will endanger us all and are refusing to share it with the public.
“The people deserve to know what’s coming - Labor must release this critical security report so we can weigh up predicted wars, water shortages and supply chain collapses against every new coal and gas approval.
“If the White House can release the US’s National Intelligence Assessment and assessments by the Pentagon, the Prime Minister should be able to release a declassified version of the Office of National Intelligence's Climate Risk Assessment for Australia.”
Attributable to Senator David Shoebridge:
“I’ll be calling for the production of documents for the Government to release a declassified version of the Climate Risk Assessment. The public paid for it and they have a right to know.
“The Government is spending hundreds of billions on Defence and yet refuses to address the devastating national security risks associated with the climate crisis.
“A declassified version of the Defence Strategic Review was made public and the same type of climate risk assessments are released around the world, the same should be done here.
“The Government’s refusal to release the climate risk assessment is yet another way of protecting the fossil fuel industry at the expense of Australia's national security and the Australian public.
“Australia is increasingly isolated in wanting to suppress security assessments of the big climate risks the world is facing.”
https://www.forumsec.org/2023/07/26/release-new-pacific-climate-security-assessment-guid