Ok it was yesterday but considering what’s just happened in Germany , all the way up the west coast of North America.
Here at PS.com I have to say I’m dreading what the forthcoming Australian summer will bring. Although I’m not sure what I’m dreading more the climate or the idiotic politicians denying the reality of it all.
To give you an idea of the asinine behaviour of the current Australian govt , although they aren;t allowing Australian citizens to return home en masse they had time last week to fly in the likes of representatives from Saudi Arabia for a snorkelling trip on the Barrier Reef so that they’d vote at the UN not to have the reef declared critically endangered
Here’s a report from the Guardian if you don’t believe us
Australia to host ambassadors at Great Barrier Reef ahead of ‘in danger’ list vote
Representatives from nine voting nations among guests on snorkelling trip as Morrison government lobbies against Unesco recommendation
Ambassadors from more than a dozen countries will fly to the Great Barrier Reef for a snorkelling trip on Thursday as part of the Morrison government’s lobbying campaign to keep the ocean jewel off the world heritage in danger list.
The government’s official reef ambassador, Warren Entsch, will host the Canberra-based diplomatic group which, he said, included nine countries with voting rights at the upcoming world heritage committee meeting. Entsch said on Wednesday the diplomats were paying their own airfare.
On Tuesday, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wrote to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, asking him to match more than $2bn of funding for renewable energy and water quality projects along the 2,300km reef.
Palaszczuk wrote that new funding commitments would send a “strong signal” to the committee ahead of the meeting, which starts on Friday. A decision on the reef is currently scheduled for 23 July during the virtual meeting.
Australia has launched an all-out lobbying offensive against a recommendation from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to place the reef on the world heritage in danger list.
The federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, is in Europe for a week of meetings to try and convince countries to vote against the “in danger” recommendation.
Unesco says the committee should put the reef on the danger list after rising ocean temperatures caused mass bleaching of corals in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Targets to improve water quality had also not been met, the UN body has said.
Entsch said 16 countries and the European Union had accepted an invitation from the government and would visit Agincourt Reef on a trip from Port Douglas, north of Cairns.
Scientists and officials from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority would accompany the ambassadors, Entsch said, as well as tourism figures. Indigenous rangers would also be on board.
“They will cover the whole ambit of the challenges [to the reef], as they should,” he said. “It is critically important that when other countries are out there judging our performance, it’s important their representatives in Australia can travel up and get first hand information.”
Among the countries Entsch said had accepted the invitation were Russia, Bahrain, Hungary, Brazil, Spain and Guatemala – all countries on the 21-member world heritage committee, chaired by China.
Depress yourself further at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/14/australia-to-fly-ambassadors-to-great-barrier-reef-ahead-of-in-danger-list-vote
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