Australia uses diplomatic strong-arm tactics to water down outcomes in Pacific climate negotiations and buy silence on climate change.

This was revealed by a new investigation from Greenpeace.

Greenpeace’s new report, Australia: Pacific Bully and International Outcast reveals that the Australian government uses bullying tactics in regional negotiations on climate change.

This is according to former Pacific Island leaders interviewed by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, including former Kiribati President Anote Tong and former Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Bikenibeu Paeniu.

Australia’s aid to the Pacific has been greenwashed, with some of the largest and most expensive ‘climate adaptation’ projects having no link to climate change or increasing the climate resilience of Pacific peoples.

The Australian government’s climate position harms its international relations and economy with Australia’s export markets for coal and gas shrinking as major trading partners such as Japan and South Korea commit to net-zero emissions.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific non-executive board member and Fijian international human rights lawyer Kavita Naidu says Australia was one of the world’s largest coal and gas exporters and had damaged its international standing for refusing to cut emissions and blocking global progress on addressing climate change.

She says despite Australia’s stronghold manoeuvring, Pacific leaders have unanimously declared that the climate crisis is the single greatest threat facing the region and Pacific people, who are suffering from catastrophic and irreversible loss and damage.

Naidu says Australia’s failure to step up to the climate challenge at COP26 has seen it rebuked on the world stage and it’s a frustration Pacific leaders have experienced for decades as their calls for Australia to reduce its carbon-intensity have been consistently ignored.

The report also uncovers the greenwashing of Australian aid in the Pacific, finding that millions of aid dollars have been given to ‘climate adaptation’ projects that don’t have any link to climate change.