‘She’s entitled to her views’: Albanese defends himself after Thunberg’s ‘snail’ jibe

Antalya, Turkey: Energy Minister Chris Bowen has described his department’s $32,000 budget for coffee at this year’s global climate conference as “great public diplomacy” as Labor points to its efforts to secure support for Australia’s Pacific neighbours on the world stage as money well spent.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also defended himself against criticism from Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who compared the country’s pace of action on climate change to that of a snail, on the sidelines of COP31 on Thursday.

The Albanese government has copped flak from both sides of the climate debate as it takes on a leading role at global talks in Antalya: it is facing demands to push harder on fossil fuels in Turkey, while political opponents at home have blasted the $150 million spent on the conference.

Australia’s participation in this year’s COP has been met with heightened scrutiny due to Bowen’s unique role as president of negotiations – a position he secured last year after Australia lost its bid to host the event in Adelaide.

Albanese and Bowen sought to navigate a middle path through the debate on Thursday as they stood with Pacific climate ministers to encourage private investors and other countries to pour $500 million into a climate resilience fund for Pacific nations.

The prime minister said progress on economic support and development aid for the Pacific boosted Australia’s national security interests and justified its investment in this year’s talks.

“The issue of climate change is an issue of protecting … the global environment. It’s also about Australia’s national interest,” Albanese said.

“A few years ago you wouldn’t have always seen Pacific leaders standing with Australia with one voice, speaking about the Pacific family, working together in such a co-operative way. I’m really proud of what we have done.”

Businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation became the first philanthropist to contribute to the Pacific fund on Thursday, with a $7.25 million commitment, but Australia faces an uphill challenge drumming up more investment. Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand have been major contributors to the $200 million pool so far but no other investors have signed up this week to reach the $500 million target.

Thunberg slams Australia’s net zero pace

This year’s climate talks have not impressed Thunberg, who broke her recent boycott of COP conferences to denounce this year’s leadership for losing control of rising temperatures.

Thunberg hosted a press conference in front of more than 100 reporters and supporters on Thursday with a group of activists, including a volunteer in Nepal’s recent flash floods, to rebel against the “implementation” focus of this year’s event.

The group also included an Indigenous advocate from the Northern Territory, Rikki Dank, who called on Albanese to “stop speaking and start listening” to calls to phase out fossil fuels.

Asked whether she agreed with Dank’s comments about Australia’s record on climate change, Thunberg said: “I think even a snail would agree with that. It’s common sense. It doesn’t get more clear than that.”

Albanese said he hadn’t seen Thunberg’s comments “but she’s entitled to her views”. “What we are doing is putting forward practical plans to achieve a considerable decrease. Our target, of course, is 43 per cent reduction by 2030 and we are making substantial progress,” he said.

Thunberg, who became famous aged 15 for her school strike for climate, spoke at COPs in 2018 and 2019. She has since avoided the most recent summits, citing the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists and hosting of talks in oil-exporting states as evidence of hypocrisy.

On Thursday she described the actions from people in power at COP as “completely detached from reality”.

“The planet is not dying; it is being killed, and we know by who. And is being killed by the very same people often thought to come to our rescue,” she said.

Turkey and Australia have faced criticism from climate activists and pushback from several nations for encouraging the rapid uptake of electrification this year, rather than securing commitment to phasing out fossil fuels, which both countries export. The world is on track to overshoot its Paris Agreement of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres also challenged the hosts this week to be more ambitious in sending fossil fuels “the way of the dinosaurs”.

Albanese said there was no single idea or measure that would solve the issue of climate change. “There will be broad conversations about the full range of issues … but electrification and the commitment of 35 [per cent electrification] by 2035 is a significant advance,” he said.

Asked why he did not explicitly talk about fossil fuels in his opening speech to the conference, he said: “You can pick out any number of things that weren’t in what was a short speech.

“I gave a speech which was appropriate, which was concentrating on the impact, particularly on the Pacific, talking about the impact of rising sea levels on Tuvalu, and my speech was well received by my Pacific friends here.”

Bowen responds to coffee budget backlash

Australia has allocated $150 million to its involvement in this year’s COP, including $2.2 million on sending 192 officials to Turkey. Of that, $32,000 was budgeted for a coffee stall at this year’s pavilion.

Several countries offer coffee at their stalls but Australia’s is the only one with an hour-long queue for lattes and flat whites. Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan has criticised the expense, describing it as audacious when Australians face rising living costs at home.

Bowen addressed the backlash on Thursday. “Australia’s had delegations at every COP since Rio 30 years ago, sometimes led by a prime minister, usually led by a minister, but always a large Australian delegation. That’s appropriate,” he said.

“The difference is this time here we are helping steer the negotiations, so we’re having more influence. The prime minister and I think that’s a good thing to have Australia more influential in the world. Angus Taylor thinks it’s a good thing to have Australia less influential. That’s the difference.”

The minister also referenced Taylor’s comments from 2021, when he was energy minister overseeing COP in Scotland, and invested in an Australian pavilion for the first time, including a coffee cart providing free drinks to delegates. Taylor described it as a good idea at the time, saying he wanted to ramp the operations up in future.

“It was the right decision, an approach I have continued. It was also Mr Taylor’s decision to open free coffee, which I also endorse and congratulate him for,” Bowen said.

“[It was] the right call because it’s great public diplomacy. It is lifting Australia’s presence. People are coming to the Australian pavilion and staying for seminars and hearing about their investment opportunities in Australia. That’s why we’re here.”

Former Coalition prime minister Malcolm Turnbull also described it as good use of Australia’s marketing budget outside the pavilion on Wednesday.

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