Pacific presses Australia on fossil fuel transition

Australia, as COP31 negotiations president, "should be here to listen to the Pacific partners".

Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr Sivendra Michael said this on Saturday, as Amnesty International says Australia "cannot credibly claim climate leadership" while backing fossil fuel expansion.

Dr Michael said Australia should work with the Pacific to "drive the practical global action that we require" and honour the 1.5-degree guardrail.

"We know that all countries need to do way more to address climate change," he said.

He said the New South Wales Government's coal mine decision was a matter for Australia.

"Any Australian government assessment should be kept separate and it must follow their own environmental law," he said.

Dr Michael said visitors to Tuvalu would see the problem for themselves.

"You have seen it firsthand what the people of Tuvalu go through on a day-to-day basis," he said.

"If you are not able to commit how you are going to support the transition for fossil fuel dependent countries that do not produce fossil fuel, then we have an issue."

Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement that governments must "tax big polluters" and end fossil fuel use and expansion through just transitions.

"An empty seat is not the greatest failure. The greater failure is an empty promise," she said.

Amnesty said Tuvalu produces less than 0.003 per cent of global emissions.

Fiji spent $711 million on imported fuel in 2024, equal to 11.9 per cent of its gross domestic product.

Energy Fiji Limited says it is driving a $2 billion renewable push, aiming for 60 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 and 90 per cent by 2035.

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