CANBERRA, ACT, Sept. 21 -- The Prime Minister of Australia issued the following media release:
Thank you for the invitation to officially open Climate Group's Climate Week NYC 2026.
It's great to be here with so many champions of climate action.
Your CEO - Helen Clarkson.
Your Chair - my friend Mike Rann.
And of course, Ed Milliband.
Last year my Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, addressed this gathering with a message of hope about the vast global move towards renewables now underway.
Climate Group and Australia have a long and strong relationship, going back to the organisation's early days.
Climate Group and Climate Week NYC are needed now more than ever.
We understand the scale of the problem better and the need to tackle it on a far broader front.
And for that we have Climate Group and Climate Week NYC and so many great worldwide organisations to thank.
The reality of our changing climate is becoming more obvious with every season.
In the northern summer just past, there have been record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfires in Europe.
Not every extreme weather event can be directly attributed to climate change. Global weather has always been treacherous.
But the science told us unmistakably that as the world warms these events will become more frequent and intense.
And those scientific forecasts have come to be.
This means the global community cannot afford to be frozen in time as the world warms around us.
Australia understands the dangers of global warming and the urgency of climate action as well as any nation.
We have seen it up close - from increasingly intense bushfires and floods, to the damage warming oceans are wreaking on our vulnerable coastlines.
In Australia, spring has arrived. With a record-breaking El Nino forecast, Australia and the Pacific nations are preparing for a potential summer of extreme heat, bushfires and floods.
As we know, in the worst of times, we often see the best of humanity.
Selflessness.
Bravery.
Compassion.
We see it in our professional and volunteer firefighters and special emergency service workers, battling for their communities.
Stepping up, volunteering to fight fires and respond to floods in countries far away - in places like Canada, the United States and or France. Part of an international fraternity of bravery.
In times of crisis, community comes to the fore.
From people who take in evacuated neighbours and give them shelter while their own homes are under threat.
To those who rescue and care for our wildlife.
Their kindness and generosity bring light in the darkest times.
As leaders, we must match their bravery.
Unfortunately, without strong action the science tells us these events will get worse and more intense.
That's more communities facing repeated trauma.
Knowing the next flood or fire isn't a matter of if, but when.
That's not just true for Australia, but for every nation represented here today.
We can't rely on the fortitude of our people alone, as tough as they are.
We need to come together, to meet the problem head on.
There's no avoiding the scale of our responsibility - or the cost of inaction.
But there's no denying what it also represents - another clear and urgent reason to advance the clean energy transition.
Australia understands the important role we must play.
To get behind something positive.
To move forward with a common purpose.
And to build a better future for the next generation.
Last year, I stood in the UN headquarters and announced Australia's Nationally Determined Contribution.
Our 2035 target is to reduce emissions by 62 to 70 per cent on 2005 levels.
It is ambitious. But achievable.
Australia's abundant renewable potential firmed by gas will get us there.
Before my government came to office just four years ago, renewables accounted for around a third of Australia's energy grid.
At the peak of the last Australian summer, they made up half.
And we've since broken records in each quarter of this year.
We are now a leader in home battery installation, with Australians installing ten thousand batteries each week - more than half a million in the past year.
And we've now added enough wind and solar capacity to power six million households.
This in a nation of 28 million people.
Across homes and businesses, Australians are choosing to electrify.
Seeing the obvious benefits of clean, reliable, more affordable energy.
Electrification is the way to reduce emissions while maintaining economic growth.
This is why Australia is backing global efforts for electrification.
Australia is working with our partners to build new renewable energy markets and enable our region to electrify.
More solar and wind power, more batteries and storage.
And, of course, more of the critical minerals and rare earths this technology depends on.
So, we are backing our sovereign capability and renewable energy value chains.
Across everything from critical minerals processing to green metals and clean energy manufacturing.
Helping economies in our region grow - and helping the world meet its net zero goals.
Nowhere does this matter more than in the region that is our home - the Pacific.
A region where those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis are among the most vulnerable to its consequences.
This is why we continue to back Pacific-led climate action and innovation to protect livelihoods, security and cultures.
Last year, with other Pacific nations, we established the Pacific Resilience Facility.
It is the first Pacific-led regional climate financing mechanism.
It is also a promise to our Pacific family that they will not face the climate crisis alone.
We've backed that promise with a contribution of $100 million towards the Fund's goal of reaching $1.5 billion capitalisation.
And we're contributing $350 million to support climate resilient infrastructure in the Pacific as well.
This week we focus on 'Impact' - something I saw firsthand when I visited Palau earlier this month.
With Australia's backing, Palau's first large scale solar and battery project is on track to supply more than 20 per cent of its energy needs.
And displace more than a million litres of diesel consumption each year.
Elsewhere, our REnew Pacific Program is delivering everything from climate resilient classrooms in Vanuatu and Fiji to clean energy and water on one of Kiribati's most remote islands.
The program has directly improved 300,000 lives.
Australia's pledge to our Pacific family goes deeper than investment.
In 2023, we signed a world first agreement with Tuvalu.
The agreement not only helps Tuvaluans live and thrive in their island home, it gives them the chance to live, study and work in Australia, too.
This agreement is known the Falepili Union Treaty - after the Tuvaluan word, meaning good neighbourliness, care and mutual respect.
Australia is engaging with our entire region in this spirit.
We are backing Pacific action and innovation - turning up, following through, and creating a more connected and unified region.
Pacific nations have long been the strongest advocates for climate action.
And the value of listening to their perspectives has never been clearer.
Which is why we are working with Türkiye - and with the Pacific - through our innovative COP31 partnership this year.
And why we are working with the governments of Tuvalu and Fiji to deliver the Pre-COP Leaders' event next month.
We will bring the eyes of the world to our region, highlight the threat climate change poses to it, and show how Pacific voices are shaping global action to counter it.
Deepening ties with our closest neighbours as we accelerate the global transition to net zero.
Australia will always advocate for stronger climate action.
Through cooperation, collaboration, investment, partnership and implementation.
We all have a role to play - with ideas, financing and energy.
Leaving no region of the world out of the solution.
And build a fairer, safer and prosperous future for all.
Thank you.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
