COP26: Australia wants to stay in the coal seam

While dozens of countries announced at COP26 the phasing out of coal, Australia declared that it would not close either its mines or its power plants running on this fuel, explaining in particular wanting to defend the some 300,000 jobs that represents this sector. Announcements which “shame”, as a Franco-Australian, David Camroux, honorary researcher at Ceri de Sciences-Po. Because with a level of sunshine among the highest on the planet, immense spaces and more than 25,000 km of coastline, the island-continent “could be the world champion of renewable energies”, sighs David Camroux.

For him, the interests of the big mining companies are defended by very influential lobbies within the government coalition made up of the Liberal Party and its conservative ally of the National Party, which intend to continue to export coal in the name of the law of the market: it is a question of responding to a global demand – especially Chinese – growing, source of immediate profits, explains David Camroux.

The Labor Party, for its part, has an ambiguous relationship with this source of energy: like other Labor parties around the world, the Australian Labor Party is close to the trade union world. However, the mining sector is traditionally very unionized, continues David Camroux. The coal lobby therefore also influences the main Australian left-wing party, putting it in a delicate situation: one which, against its urban electorate, “bobo”, opposes its traditional working-class base. “The image of the industrious miner, sweating blood and water for the well-being of the nation, retains a very positive connotation in Australian culture,” notes David Camroux.

A carbon lobby whose power at the global level has been recalled by the investigations carried out by an NGO: after having browsed the list of participants in the UN climate high mass in Glasgow, Global Witness revealed on Monday that 503 coal, oil and gas lobbyists had obtained their entry ticket to the COP.. The promoters of fossil fuels thus represented double the British delegation, which was host to COP26, and constituted the largest delegation, ahead of that of Brazil with 479 people.

Australian disparities

The decision to continue producing the most polluting fossil fuels for “decades” has something to surprise the outside observer: the “Australian way of life” fuels the collective imagination the idea of ​​a society oriented towards ocean, in love with nature. But this political choice cannot mask the “immense contrasts” between the various political and civil actors of the country, nuance David Camroux, who wishes to recall that this was a federal decision.

For its part, the government of New South Wales has committed a few weeks ago to halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Even within the Australian states, we observe, as in North America, a much stronger ecological sensitivity in large cities – Melbourne or Brisbane – than in the “bush”, the Australian countryside, continues David Camroux. But the most edifying fault line for him is that between civil society and the government coalition currently in office. Barely coming to power, at the end of the May 2019 elections, “Scott Morrisson is positioned at the antipodes of developments in his own society,” explains the researcher. He insists: “Australians are generally sensitive to environmental issues.”

A concrete example: 2.5 million Australian households are equipped with solar panels. A “huge” figure when compared to a population of 24 million, rejoices David Camroux. “Practices that marked my childhood, such as collecting rainwater for domestic use, are now back in fashion. Australians have understood that it is necessary to save water,” he notes.

New alliances

For the Franco-Australian, the spark of this environmental awareness is to be found in the mega-fires that ravaged the country during the austral summer of 2019-2020. The national trauma inflicted by this ecological, economic and human disaster (dozens of deaths in the fires, hundreds if one includes deaths by smoke inhalation) has inflicted a serious blow on the climate skeptic camp, according to him.

And for good reason: global warming is – at least – one of the factors of this type of fires.

Of the 18.6 million hectares that went up in smoke, between 13 and 14% were agricultural land. The plight of farmers in the states in the throes of flames (New South Wales and Victoria) is now provoking a convergence of analysis between the agricultural world and the “green people”, observes David Camroux. The researcher notes a recent example: a region known for its vineyards, the Hunter Valley (northern New South Wales), thus saw its winegrowers oppose the opening of new coal mines, fearing the repercussions on viticulture and wine tourism.

Coal mining is also in direct conflict with thetourism industry, which employs over half a million Australians, this one based largely on a preserved environment. The controversy linked to the launch in 2017 of the Carmichael mega-coal near the Great Barrier Reef is emblematic of the common interests of the Australian tourism industry and environmentalists, underlines David Camroux.

Tens of thousands of tourism jobs are threatened by the destruction of the Barrier Reef, made worse by the toxic releases of this megamine. But as the service sector is much less unionized than that of coal, its impact on political decisions remains less, regrets the researcher.

A new government?

The largest international and Australian donors are now all preparing to turn the page on coal, said David Camroux. End of 2020, ANZ was the last Australian bank to announce that it will no longer finance thermal coal mines or coal-fired power plants from 2030.

Gone are the days when Scott Morrison, then Minister of Finance, addressed the House of Representatives with a piece of coal in his hand, urging parliamentarians to “not be afraid”, according to David Camroux. The government sees the post-coal transition taking shape despite itself, but wants to delay it as much as possible to make as much money as possible.

But the prime minister may well be heading for the exit ahead of the federal legislative and senatorial elections scheduled for next spring. A perspective that inspires David Camroux with a certain optimism: “The political negotiations with a view to alliances with the Green party, coupled with the economic perils posed by the destruction of the planet, are pushing the elected Labor representatives to become more and more green. ‘. Once its political elites are renewed, Australia will then be able to return to the climate negotiating table. Canberra will then be in a position to embark on positive transition processes for Australia, as for the planet. “