Pacific Island nations will no longer stand for Australia’s inaction on climate change

The inability to meet Pacific Island
expectations on climate change
 will erode Australia’s leadership
credentials and influence in the
region.

The Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tuvalu this week has ended in open division over climate change. 

Australia ensured its official communique watered down commitments to respond to climate change, gaining a hollow victory. 

Traditionally, communiques capture the consensus reached at the meeting. In this case, the division on display between Australia and the Pacific meant the only commitment is to commission yet another report into what action needs to be taken.

The cost of Australia’s victory is likely to be great, as it questions the sincerity of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s commitment to “step up” engagement in the Pacific.

Read the story from The Conversation by the Head of Department of Politics and Philosophy from La Trobe University, Michael O’Keefe - “Pacific Island nations will no longer stand for Australia’s inaction on climate change.”