The Albanese government should do more to leverage its relationship with Japan – arguably the world’s most important energy partnership – to help its trading partner move away from gas and towards a rapid and ambitious decarbonisation, former diplomats say.
Diplomats for Climate, an organisation supported by more than 100 former Australian officials, says “the future of gas lies in the ground” but that a ban on new fossil fuel developments – the focus of a growing community campaign that argues that is what the scientific evidence demands – would not cut global emissions unless international demand was reduced.
