The world’s eyes were on Australia over the G20 weekend. Well, the world’s eyes were on what their leaders were doing in Australia over the G20 weekend.
International coverage was as varied as it was formulaic. News organisations gave top billing to their leaders and what they said and who they met with at the summit, but that did not mean the host country was completely ignored.
So how did Australia fare in the international coverage of G20?
The Los Angeles Times: “Australia left to cringe once again at a leader’s awkward moment”
This scathing piece, which labelled Australia “the shrimp of the schoolyard”, was written by an Australian journalist and has gone viral on our shores. It focused primarily on prime minister Tony Abbott’s performance at the summit.
It reported:
“...occasionally, there’s an awkward, pimply youth moment so embarrassing that it does sting. Like when 19 of the world’s most important leaders visit for a global summit and Prime Minister Tony Abbott opens their retreat Saturday with a whinge (Aussie for whine) about his doomed efforts to get his fellow Australians to pay $7 to see a doctor.
And then he throws in a boast that his government repealed the country’s carbon tax, standing out among Western nations as the one willing to reverse progress on global warming — just days after the United States and China reached a landmark climate change deal.
The Group of 20 summit could have been Australia’s moment, signaling its arrival as a global player, some here argued. But in all, the summit had Australians cringing more than cheering.”
New York Times: “Finishing Asia Tour, Obama Promotes More Ambitious Foreign Policy”
The NYT put the G20 in the context of president Barack Obama’s broader trip through Asia and noted his strong words on climate while in Brisbane, while labelling Abbott “a blunt skeptic” on climate change.
“Mr. Obama’s words carried an extra edge in Australia, where Prime Minister Tony Abbott is a blunt skeptic about the science behind climate change. He boasted to the leaders gathered for the meeting that his government had repealed a tax on carbon emissions — a key tool to curb the greenhouse gases that heat up the atmosphere. Mr. Abbott tried to keep climate change off the agenda at the Group of 20 meeting, preferring to focus on jobs and economic growth. But Mr. Obama’s $3 billion pledge to the Green Climate Fund, announced in his speech here, made that difficult.
The timing was clearly intended to prod other would-be donors, like Japan, which was expected to announce a contribution of up to $1.5 billion toward the fund’s total goal of $10 billion.”
The Independent: G20 summit: David Cameron pledges UK will ‘play its part’ in backing climate fund to help developing countries tackle emissions
The UK’s Independent looked at the potential domestic ramifications of prime minister David Cameron’s commitment to the Green Climate Fund and mentioned his “bromance” with Abbott may have helped climate change make it into the communique.
“Climate change was not expected to be a major issue at the G20. Tony Abbott, the Australian prime minister and G20 president this year, was not keen to have the issue on the agenda and yesterday told his fellow leaders that he was “standing up for coal”. Mining is a major reason for the economic strength of Australia.
But a deal signed by the US and China, which account for about 40 per cent of global greenhouse emissions, seemed to refocus the agenda.
Eventually, a passage on climate change made it into the summit’s conclusions, which said the G20 supported “mobilising finance for adaptation and mitigation” of carbon emissions, noted that development of clean energy sources would support economic growth, and that member countries would “phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption”. Australian media suggested that the “bromance” between Mr Cameron and Mr Abbott, which has been evident in recent days by their praise of each other’s handling of the economy and international threats, led to the Australian prime minister agreeing to put climate change in the communiqué.”
Le Monde: G20, hard struggle for a paragraph on climate
France’s Le Monde noted the resistance to including climate change on the G20 agenda and, according to an English translation of an article in its coverage, positioned France as one of the countries fighting for it to be included.
“France and its partners have achieved the inclusion of a paragraph in the final communiqué of the meeting in Brisbane, Australia , which advocates a “strong and effective action” on global warming and the need to find a MoU international at the Conference of the Parties on climate (COP21) to be held in Paris in 2015. The UN Green Fund, designed to help developing countries to adapt to the effects of global warming, is also discussed.”
China Daily: Koalas steal the show at G20 in Brisbane
China Daily gave a prominent position on its website to the koalas at the G20, which the organisation seemed delighted with:
“Australia’s cutest animal stole much of the limelight at the G20 summit over the weekend in subtropical Brisbane, when the host country launched a behind-the-scenes diplomatic offensive.
Before sitting down to address the woes the world is facing, participants the high-level talks were each handed a koala for a photo session on Saturday, and all seemed to enjoy their time with Australia’s cuddly mascot.
Leaders attending the G20 summit, including US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, were all charmed by the Australian marsupial, or pouched mammal.”
China Daily also ran a Xinhua agency piece which gave fairly straight up and down treatment to Abbott’s address on Sunday headlined “G20 leaders summit will make better world: Abbott”
Indian Express: G20 commits to growth, fighting climate change
Indian Express noted that most of the 2.1% global GDP growth target would be coming from India and emphasised the role of climate change in the summit:
“Leaders of the Group of 20 countries on Sunday agreed to take a variety of measures to add an extra $2 trillion or 2.1 per cent to world economic output and create millions of jobs by 2018.
Despite host Australia pitching hard to keep climate change outside the G20 agenda, US President Barack Obama brought conviction to its inclusion by announcing a $3 billion climate change fund for developing countries on Saturday. Japan followed suit by committing another $1.5 billion.
Suresh Prabhu, sherpa to Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, the incremental 2 per cent growth will come mainly from India, besides China.”
CTV News: Harper back to Ottawa after headline grabbing G20 summit in Australia
Canada’s CTV News looked at the country’s commitment to contribute to the Green Climate Fund and, like most other international outlets, noted Abbott’s aversion to it.
“Obama was insistent that his fellow G20 leaders address climate change at the Australian summit, evidently determined to make climate change policy a priority in his final two years in office.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a climate change skeptic and the summit’s chairman, had wanted the meeting’s primary focus to be on global job creation and economic growth.”
