Australia Doesn’t Believe In Public Finance

Racking up its fourth Fossil of the Day, which is hosted by Climate Action Network, Australia is starting to get it a reputation for its Alice in Wonderland-esque behaviour.

The position Australia has taken in Warsaw has been likened to Alice’s ‘Mad Hatter’. On Monday, Australia received their first fossil after they refused to make finance commitments and by Friday, they were hard at work blocking the negotiations, by undermining the notion of climate finance entirely

Australia has called new predictable and reliable finance from developed countries “not realistic” and “not acceptable”, arguing that this equates to “welfare transfer”.

Climate finance is actually a moral obligation and legal commitment that developed countries have made because of common but differentiated responsibilities.

Additional, adequate and predictable finance is not an optional part of the UNFCCC. It’s a key building block without which the entire international climate architecture falls apart.

The question now is, will Australia beat Canada, who currently holds the record of the most Fossils at any one COP?

By Jade Neville, photo by Al Kinley via Oxfam.