CLIMATE CHANGE FUNDS LATEST ABBOTT BACKFLIP

Mark Butler MP.

Shadow Minister for Environment
 Climate Change and Water

Date:  10 December 2014

The Abbott Government’s contribution to the Green Climate Fund is today’s embarrassing backflip from a desperate Prime Minister who is being forced to accept his policies are wrong. 

Tony Abbott has redistributed $200 million from dwindling foreign aid funds to the United Nations Green Climate Fund, which he has previously described as “socialism masquerading as environmentalism” and “a Bob Brown bank on an international scale”. 

“This announcement is too late to repair Australia’s international reputation for being a laggard on climate change, after Tony Abbott’s mendacious campaign against climate change action,” Acting Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong said. 

“Tony Abbott should have honoured the former Labor Government’s commitment to the Green Climate Fund and not spread the foreign aid budget so thinly that they were scrambling to find funds to repair their political wounds.” 

“This $200 million announcement does nothing to repair the $7.6 billion slashed from the foreign aid budget, with more cuts likely in the upcoming Budget update.” 

The Abbott Government has repeatedly refused to contribute to the Green Climate Fund which supports developing nations to adapt to climate change impacts. 

Today’s announcement follows reports of a rift between Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott, after it was confirmed his office did not see the value in sending a minister to the important climate change conference in Lima. 

“This move is not to be confused with genuine climate change action,” Shadow Minister for Climate Change Mark Butler said. 

“This cannot be seen as anything more than an olive branch to Julie Bishop to ease the obvious tensions between the Prime Minister and his Deputy Leader after he didn’t trust her to undertake negotiations at the climate conference in Lima on her own.” 

Australia has a responsibility to be a productive participant at the Lima conference and Tony Abbott’s insistence that climate change hardliner Trade Minister Andrew Robb attend the conference shows the Prime Minister is desperate Australia not be committed to ambitious carbon pollution targets.