Australia’s international reputation and diplomatic influence will be damaged unless the federal government intervenes to ensure crucial climate change research in Antarctica is not cancelled, international lawyers and environmentalists have warned.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is also facing political pressure from the Greens and the Coalition, which have both raised concerns about plans to cancel or heavily restrict studies of record-low sea ice, ice shelves and declining penguin populations due to a budget crunch.
On Tuesday, Guardian Australia revealed dozens of projects were on the chopping block as the Australian Antarctic Division scrambles to make $25m of savings in 12 months to meet its existing budget.
An internal document also reveals the “cleaner Antarctica program” will not operate due to budget constraints. The program, described as “a flagship science project” that would “enhance Australia’s scientific and environmental leadership”, remediates the damage caused by human activity, including diesel spills.
Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University who specialises in the Antarctic treaty system, said the international community would be watching the Australian government’s response carefully.
“At the moment there is, unfortunately, a science, logistics and influence race under way in Antarctica,” Rothwell said.
“We need to be constantly mindful of the fact that other nations are watching what we do – and what we do now, in 2023, can have implications for our status and our standing down the track. Great care and caution needs to be taken.”
Plibersek has been contacted for comment. The government maintains it has not cut the Antarctic program’s budget, but is instead requiring it to meet its existing funding commitments. An efficiency dividend has also been imposed on external consultants and labour.
The former Greens leader and environmental campaigner Bob Brown said the cancelled projects would damage Australia’s legacy as a pioneer in Antarctic conservation unless decisions were overturned.
“Just a week after the world was reeling about the news of sea ice being at the lowest level in history, they are cutting funding to the very people who are studying what’s happening,” Brown said.
“This is very serious. If [the] prime minister, Anthony Albanese, cannot correct this mistake in the budget, then people hoping that Labor will come good on the environment will start to give up for good.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation’s campaigns director, Paul Sinclair, said the government should divert money from the fossil fuel industry to fund the programs if required.
“It would be negligent for Australia to say we can’t afford to clean up the damage from diesel spills and fuel contamination left after Australian missions to the continent,” Sinclair said.
He said the government should not be handing out billions of dollars a year to fossil fuel companies and should instead “allocate those funds to cleaning up our own mess in Antarctica, doing great science and repairing the environment”.
When the planned cuts were first reported, an Australian Antarctic Division spokesperson said the program “continues to prioritise critical science that supports understanding of climate, ecosystems and environmental stewardship”.
The opposition’s environment spokesperson, Jonathon Duniam, said research cuts would jeopardise Australia’s leadership role in the region. He said if Labor was committed to Antarctic science, then it would “immediately reverse their catastrophic $25m worth of cuts”.
The Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the world was “at a tipping point” and crucial research was being cut “at the most important time”.
“Science is the currency of the Antarctic treaty and if the Albanese government wants to secure Australia’s leadership role in the region it must properly fund our scientific efforts,” Whish-Wilson said.
The chief executive of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, David Ritter, also referenced Australia’s “proud legacy of funding and conducting exceptional” research.
“As temperature records are shattered around the world, now more than ever we need strong and robust investment in climate research,” Ritter said. “The climate crisis is here and addressing it must be our number one priority.”
