2015-11-10
The Australian Greens are calling on the Turnbull Government to stop blocking international moves to reduce OECD countries' subsidies to coal-fired power stations in developing countries.
Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and climate change spokesperson, who asked the government why it was blocking the deal in Senate Question Time today, said:
"Australia blocking international moves to reduce financing for new dirty coal plants flies in the face of our appointment as the co-chair of the Green Climate Fund and risks Australia continuing Abbott's approach of playing a blocking role in international climate negotiations.
"The Turnbull government wants rich OECD countries to keep pouring billions of dollars into building new coal fired power stations in other countries, worsening local air and water quality and exacerbating global warming.
"The international community is finally recognising this must stop and that instead wealthy countries should be funding renewable energy in developing countries.
"But the Turnbull Government is trying to block moves by the US and Japan to reach a deal to restrict these disastrous fossil fuel subsidies, which are currently holding back the global transition to clean energy.
"In response to my question why Australia was blocking reform, the Attorney-General waxed lyrical about how much the government believed in the coal industry, ignoring that coal is in structural decline and that workers need alternatives.
"The Turnbull Government is fighting against the economic reality that the coal industry is in structural decline and that it can't compete with ever-advancing renewable technology, without these dirty subsidies.
"The Turnbull Government wants to keep coal-fired power stations unfairly propped up to please its big mining donors at the expense of the liveability of the planet and the health of people in developing nations.
"Australia should be leading the transition to the job-rich clean energy future, not blocking the global shift from fossil fuels," Senator Waters said.
Watch the Question Time question here: https://youtu.be/ywjyAZJzbqc