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Brief to the Foreign Secretary
of Australia
Global Environmental Governance: Climate Change
c3241615

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………….p3
Section 1: Climate Change - The Main Concerns……………………………………..……...p5
Section 2: Current Global Environmental Governance…………………………………...…p8
Section 3: Current Proposals for Reform…………………………………………………….p11
Section 4: An Assessment of the Most Desirable Future Reforms……………………..…p12
References………………………………………………………………………………………p14

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Executive Summary
Climate change is an extremely serious issue facing both Australia and the rest of the
world. For Australia, Climate Change results in worsening drought conditions,
particularly in Southwest and Southeast Australia. These droughts have a wide impact on
health, economy, agriculture and native species in this country. Water scarcity is a big
challenge due to the increasing pressure on urban water supplies as the population
continues to grow. These droughts are likely to worsen in Australia if Greenhouse Gas
(GHG) emissions are not reduced (Climate Council of Australia, 2015).
Global Environmental Governance is still arguably uncoordinated with regards to Climate
Change which has resulted in a lack of effective action and a continuation of
environmental degradation. This is partly due to failures to generate effective framework
for managing climate change, problems with representation, and the requirement of
collective and collaborative action. Australia itself has lacked the ability to demonstrate
strong leadership regarding action on Climate Change and in 2014 became the first
developed country to repeal its carbon laws, leaving the nation with no legislation to
achieve the minimum 5% reduction in GHG emissions targets inscribed in international
agreements. However, a survey by The Climate Institute, Sydney shows 61% of
Australians want their nation to be an international leader in regards to climate change
(Climate Institute, 2014).
In this brief, I recommend that Australia reinstates its carbon tax laws, not only as a
solution to a problem which gravely threatens the health, water supply, economy and
biodiversity of its country, but also as leverage in international bargaining, as countries
will be unwilling to make firm efforts to curb their emissions unless they are assured that
others, particularly major emitters, are stepping up to the plate themselves. In light of the
lack of strong formal compliance mechanisms within Global Environmental Governance I
would also recommend that Australia, as a member of the G20, ensures that Climate
Change remains firmly on the G20 Agenda in order to keep leaders, and themselves,
accountable to their promises. Lastly, I recommend a move away from per capita GDP as

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a development indicator, as I agree with the United Nation’s (2014) view that doing so
will allow poverty and environmental issues to remain of secondary importance, and I
also believe this will help to unite developed and developing nations.

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Climate Change: The Main Concerns
Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent, home to some most variable rainfall
experienced globally, making drought a serious issue (DFAT 2014). The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) asserts that the emission of
greenhouse gases by human activities, such as the combustion of fossil fuels, is the main
cause of Climate Change and the related effects observed in the last half of the century
(IPCC, 2014). One of the regions most likely to experience severe drying trends is
Southern Australia followed by others such as the Mediterranean and southern Africa
(IPCC, 2012). For these reasons, I want to bring Climate Change to your attention as a
major global concern, but also an important national concern for Australia due to its
negative effects in the following areas:
Health:
• Droughts caused by climate change impact upon nutrition, infectious diseases, on forest
fires causing air pollution, and mental health problems, even including suicidal
behaviour (Climate Commission, 2011).
• The elderly in drought affected rural Australian communities are the most susceptible to
deterioration physical health (Horton et al. 2010). Drought can exacerbate mental health
issues, therefore leading to a rise in suicide rates in rural populations affected by
drought in Australia, particularly with male farmers (Alston, 2012).
• Droughts can lead to increasing mortality rates. Between 1970 and 2010, 680,000 deaths
have been globally linked to drought by The World Meteorological Organization
(WMO, 2014).
Economic:

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• Significant reductions in rainfall in eastern Australia affect intensive cropping and the
breeding of livestock, which can have serious economic repercussions (ABARES, 2012).
For example, from 1982 to 1983 Australia witnessed one of the worst droughts in
history, losing $3 billion in agricultural production (ABARES 2012). Another notable
period is the Millennium Drought in southeast Australia, from 1996 - 2010 (van Dijk et
al. 2013).
• Relief packages provided by the Australian government in times of drought are
expensive, evidenced by the $4.4 billion paid by 2010 to farmers as drought assistance
(ABARES, 2012). A recent report by the WMO estimated drought is Australia’s most
costly weather-related event and the 1981 drought cost the government $ 15.15 billion
(WMO, 2014).
• Between 2002 and 2003 drought-related loss of agricultural production lead to a 1%
reduction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as a drop in gross value added
for the agricultural industry by 28.5% in comparison to the previous year (ABS 2004).
Future forecasts of increased drought frequency is estimated to cost an annual $5.4
billion (Carroll et al 2007).
Ecosystems:
• Drought severely impacts Australia’s natural environment, risking many terrestrial and
freshwater species, including the green and golden bell frog, the platypus and eucalypt
forests (IPCC 2014; Climate Council 2014).
• Decreases in water supplies mean that Aquatic ecosystems are often affected by drought
,causing a loss of suitable habitat and reducing populations of many fish and
invertebrate species which then contribute to local extinctions (Bond et al. 2008). A
notable example of this is the loss of 57,000 ha of planet forest in Australia during the
Millennium Drought (van Dijk et al. 2013).

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Urban Water Supplies:
• 89% of Australia’s population were living in urban areas in 2013 (World Bank 2013),
and the growing population places high demands on water supplies. As droughts
worsen, this pressure will intensify (Collett and Henry 2011).
• Drought can drastically reduce inflows into water catchment areas, as seen in the
Millennium Drought. This results in water restrictions, such as the Stage 3 restrictions
in Melbourne between 2007–2010. The water storage levels in Melbourne were reduced
to an extreme low of 25.6% in 2009 (Melbourne Water 2014).
• Industries are also affected by water restrictions. For example, Water scarcity leads to
declining crop yields which negatively affects the agricultural sector (Melbourne Water
2014).

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Current Global Environmental Governance
The current international agents that act as centrepieces for Global Environmental
Governance (GEG) include:
• The UN system,including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) which is associated with the Kyoto Protocol, the Copenhagen
Accord and the COP-17 Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.
• The Environmental Management Group (EMG) and the Centre for Sustainable
Development (CSD)
• The Global Environment Facility (GEF) which has a climate change remit, and serves as
the main financial mechanism for UNFCCC.
• The OECD Environmental Directorate
• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Committee on Trade and Environment
The Kyoto Protocol, which covers the emissions of the six main GHGs has individual
targets set for different countries, allows countries to choose their own specific targets, of
which Australia’s are currently 5% reduction by a 2000 baseline by 2020 (Vorrath, 2014).
Global Environmental Governance is complex and the fact the environmental degradation
continues attests to the fact that the system has not reached maturity yet. The problems
with GEG stem from the following reasons:
Lack of coordination
There is an absence of meaningful coordination mechanisms for GEG.
Structural Difficulties
The proliferation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) leads to
fragmentation of international environmental institutions. This creates inconsistencies in
rules and norms (CFR, 2013).

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Requirement of collective and collaborative action
In order for environmental action to be successful it requires collective action, which has
been difficult to achieve in the past. For example: The Kyoto Protocol contains strong
commitments from developed countries to curb emissions, however the United States is
not included. Noncompliance is also not punishable by meaningful consequences. Canada
withdrew in 2011 and their environmental minister stated that Canada would only be a
part of an accord if all of the major emitters were included (CFR, 2013).
Failure to generate effective framework for managing climate change
• The Kyoto Protocol has failed in its inability to set meaningful targets or incentives for
countries such as China and India, who are emerging as big emitters, to curb their
emissions (CFR, 2013).
• The lack of an international enforcement body is a major obstacle in spite delegations at
Durban, Cancun, and Copenhagen developing reporting mechanisms, funding pledges,
and country-specific emissions reduction goals (Najam et al., 2006).
• Sources of financial support needed for developing countries cope with climate change
have not been appropriately addressed. The COP-17 attempted to set a framework for
the dispersal of funds by the Green Climate Fund, but there is a lack of firm monetary
support allocated. The total disbursed funds for climate change initiatives come to a
mere $2.1 billion (CFR, 2013).
Representation problems in global governance
There has been a divide between the global North and global South with regards to
environmental governance leading to an asymmetries of access, in which developing
countries have to abide by rules and regulations which they have a limited influence in
creating. For example, representation of developing countries’ shares in the world
economy are not reflected by their shares in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
(United Nations, 2014).

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Lack of Shared vision
• This can be seen by the little progress made at the Durban platform. Parties agreed for
the Kyoto Protocol to be extended into 2017 and created a concrete operating structure
for the Green Climate Fund, however there was a lack of clarification regarding the
formation of an accord that will become the successor to the Kyoto Protocol (CRF, 2013).
• Disagreement about the interpretation of the principle of ‘common but differentiated
responsibilites’ among industrialised and developing countries (United Nations, 2014)
makes it hard to establish and achieve meaningful mitigation targets.
• Countries disagree over stipulations regarding monitoring and financing within the
Kyoto Protocol and will do so with other accords (Najam, et al., 2006).

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Current Proposals for Reform
The UN system acknowledges their current state of incoordination surrounding climate
change, and assures there are plans to change this (United Nations, 2012).
Climate issues will be largely transferred to the G20. The Group of Twenty (G20) includes
some major developing countries and therefore, could be considered a more accurate
reflection of power distribution. However, it still excludes the vast majority of developing
countries (CFR, 2013).
The G20 has stated a need for market mechanisms in halting climate change. The benefits
of regulatory reinforcements have been witnessed with the cap-and-trade system in
Europe (Ellerman and Joskow, 2008). In line with the European model, 9 states in the US
have established market-driven framework, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative (RGGI) (CFR, 2013).
There is new focus on transparency in emissions cuts in international climate change, with
the Bali Action Plan that has developed new monitoring parameters for all countries in
order for them to commit to mitigatory actions that can then be verified (CFR, 2013).
In Australia, Urban water reforms have taken place in order to combat climate change
induced drought such as the use of desalinisation plants and water reuse schemes to
increase water supply and provide coping mechanisms to areas of increasing population.
Household adaption has been significant in local areas but further research is needed into
societal attitudes and long-term sustainability (Troy, 2008).

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An Assessment of the Most Desirable Future Reforms
In 2014 Australia became the first developed nation to repeal their carbon laws, leaving
the nation with no legislation to achieve the minimum 5% reduction in GHG emissions
targets inscribed in international agreements (Climate Institute, 2014). However, The
Climate Institute, Sydney (2014) shows 61% of Australians want their nation to be an
international leader in climate change.
I therefore feel it is important to advise the Foreign Secretary to consider that other
countries will view this abolishment of the carbon law in a negative light and that cutting
emissions is an imperative step towards halting climate-change, both nationally and
internationally. Climate Change is an important issue that will continue to directly affect
Australia, and we can’t expect other countries to make firm commitments to reduce
emissions unless they are assured that other countries are also taking action, as we have
witnessed with Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol for this reason. In terms of
per capita emissions, Australia is the 16th largest emitter of CO2 globally which higher
than any other major western nation and therefore as a significant emitter it has a duty to
take concrete action regarding climate change (Milman, 2013a).
Not only will imposing strong emission-cutting policies provide a solution to serious
climate-change related problems facing Australia such as drought, but it will also give
Australia leverage in international bargaining. The US committed to a national emissions
reduction of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. China committed to carbon emissions
reductions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 (Climate Institute, 2014). So far, Australia
has not shown the leadership necessary to address climate change.
The Liberal Coalition (2013) cited that the carbon tax added to the ‘costs of living’ as
reasoning behind the repeal of the carbon laws, therefore there are objections to the
carbon tax from the Australian public as well as some parts of government, however I feel
it is important to remind the public that climate change induced problems will cause
reduction in GDP anyway, as discussed in the first section of the report, through damage

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to the agricultural sector and will result in water restrictions, loss of forests and
extinctions of animal species.
I would also recommend less importance is placed on a per capita GDP as a measure of
development, and instead a movement towards sustainability indicators. This will also
help to unite developed countries such as Australia with developing countries and help to
remove the North-South divide in GEG which, as previously discussed, is a barrier to
international cooperation. Environmental problems don’t always have frontiers and as
Section 1 of the report mentions, there are factors to consider besides GDP, such as
biodiversity. According to the United Nations (2014), as long as GDP is the main indicator
of development, eradicating poverty, the promoting equality and the physical limits of
growth will not be matters of primary importance.
As Australia is a member of the G20, I advise that they ensure climate change is firmly on
the G20 Agenda. As there is currently a lack of strong formal compliance mechanisms in
GEG, G20 meetings will help to hold leaders accountable for their promises. Also the fact
that the G20 is a smaller gathering than the 194 parties involved in the UNFCCC will
allow for easier cooperation and opportunities to trade across issue areas, which is more
difficult to achieve in the formal negotiations of the UNFCCC.
Australia has also had issues with lacking government ministers to represent the country
at United Nations climate change conferences, for example, at Warsaw in 2013 (Milman,
2013b) and therefore I advise that a minister represent Australia at the upcoming 2015
talks in order to send a positive message and example.

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