Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Australia's response
Official conceptualizations of national security, and of 'the national interest', by
successive governments in Australia have struggled to comprehend and accom-
modate many of the complex interdependencies that now characterize our
globalized world, of which climate change is Exhibit Number One.
Former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had sought to break with this
tradition by framing climate change as a major security threat, but this appeared
to gain very little traction (Rudd, 2008; 2009; McDonald, 2012b). The Rudd
government's 2009 Australian Defence White Paper contained only a very brief
discussion of climate change, singling out potential resource conflicts and mass
migration flows (Department of Defence, 2009: 30-1). However, the White Paper
concluded that 'large-scale strategic consequences of climate change are … not
likely to be felt before 2030', which is the time horizon of the Paper (Department
of Defence, 2009: 31). This may be contrasted with the UK Ministry of Defence's
Strategic Defence Review, which placed the rise of the Asia Pacific region and
climate change at the top of its list of 'the five major trends that will impact on
the international context for defence in the coming decades' (UK Ministry of
Defence, 2010: 13).
The Defence White Paper also maintained a very traditional understanding of
Australia's national security as focused on
ensuring Australia's freedom from attack or the threat of attack, maintaining
our territorial integrity and promoting our political sovereignty, preserving
our hard-won freedoms, and sustaining our fundamental capacity to advance
economic prosperity for all Australians.
(Department of Defence, 2009: 20)
In contrast, the Gillard Labor government more recently offered a much
broader framework of 'sustainable security' to guide Australia's engagement with
Asian region in its Australia in the Asian Century White Paper (Australian
Government, 2012a) . This more comprehensive framework encompassed
national security as well as the collective economic and political security, food
and energy security in the region, the human security of individuals in the region
'and the security of the natural system as the globe enters a period of rising
temperatures and new environmental challenges' (Australian Government,
2012a: 224). The White Paper also gave considerable prominence to the Asian
region's growing contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and its growing
vulnerability to climate change (69). In particular, it noted that 'In 2009, fossil
fuels accounted for about 82 per cent of Asia's energy mix, with coal alone
accounting for around 47 per cent' and that 'without a shift to low-carbon devel-
opment, growth in emissions is projected to rise significantly' (69).
What the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper did not mention is that
Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of fossil fuels, predominantly to
Asian markets. Indeed, the Gillard government's Energy White Paper 2012,
 
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