Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said governments should judge for
themselves whether bilateral action to reduce the impact of climate
change on developing countries was a more efficient use of aid money
than donating through the UN.
"The Green Climate Fund is about
supporting developing countries build resilience to climate change.
Australia is already doing that through our aid programme," Bishop told
before leading the Australian delegation to Lima for a UN climate
summit.
"From my experience, bilateral work is able to customise
responses when we're working directly with another partner country," she
said.
Rich countries have pledged about USD 10 billion to the
recently launched Green Climate Fund, which is meant to become a key
source of finance to help developing countries deal with rising seas,
higher temperatures and extreme weather events.
Australia has
been accused of setting a poor example for other countries by failing to
contribute to the fund. Bishop's government has also been criticized
for abolishing Australia's carbon tax that was levied on the country's
worst greenhouse gas polluters until July.
Bishop said Australia
was on track to achieve its target of reducing its greenhouse gas
emissions to 12 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
But she said
the Australian delegation would not give the Lima meeting any proposed
Australian emission-cutting targets for beyond 2020.
"The message
that I will be presenting on Australia's behalf is that the new
agreement should establish a common playing field for all countries to
take climate action from 2020 and seek commitments from all the major
economies to reducing emissions," she said.
Delegates from more
than 190 countries will be in Lima trying to lay the groundwork for a
global emissions pact they hope will be adopted in Paris next year.
Bishop
said that without legally binding commitments in Paris to reduce global
emissions beyond 2020, any agreement would amount to nothing more than
aspirations. She said Australia wants to see the details of a US-China
emissions deal that was struck last month.
New targets for fossil
fuel use were announced ahead of the climate conference by the European
Union, US and China, the first Asian nation to make such a pledge. This
has injected optimism into negotiations that are supposed to climax in
Paris with the adoption of a long-awaited climate pact.
But
Australia, India, Russia and Japan have yet to commit to new limits.
Scientists say much sharper emissions cuts are needed in coming decades
to keep global warming within 2 degrees C of pre-industrial times, the
overall goal of the UN talks.
"The incident in Sydney is disturbing. Such acts are inhuman &
deeply unfortunate. I pray for everyone's safety," Modi tweeted.
