Australia is fighting alongside India and China to resist a global bid to phase out coal as leaders of the world’s biggest economies negotiate a draft pledge at the G20 summit in Rome this weekend about the need to stop the “existential” threat of climate change. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will not support a push by G20 members to set a date to end coal mining and coal-fired power stations if other leaders try to use the issue to build momentum for stronger action at a United Nations climate summit that begins in Glasgow on Monday.
The stance puts Australia on side with other big resource economies to prevent a G20 outcome that endorses a call from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for advanced economies to stop using coal by 2030 and for other countries to follow by 2040.
French President Emmanuel Macron revived the issue on Thursday night
in a phone conversation with Mr Morrison where he rebuked the Prime Minister for cancelling a $90 billion submarine contract and named coal as a key concern in climate policy.
