COP this – gas is not a climate solution
Hosting COP31 climate talks is an opportunity to showcase South Australia to the world, writes Belinda Noble, but not if we allow it to promote gas.
Can you imagine the entire populations of Gawler, Mount Gambier, Whyalla and Mount Barker descending on Adelaide for two weeks?
That’s how big an event COP31 would be.
The government’s bid to host the United Nations climate talks in 2026 is no small deal. It’s one of the largest and most important events on the planet and the government says it’s worth $500 million to the economy.
It’s an enormous opportunity to showcase South Australia’s world-beating renewable energy to the world and reverse Australia’s image as a climate laggard… but only if the state walks away from its public promotion of gas.
Despite its clean energy leadership, you could argue the state is still beholden to big gas.
The Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told the oil and gas lobby conference in May last year that the state is “at your disposal” because gas was needed to transition to net zero. Premier Peter Malinauskas said this year that “our commitment to gas in the medium term is substantial and material”.
Material, it is.
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The state gave $31 million to oil and gas companies in 2022-23, according to a paper from The Australia Institute.
The problem for Malinauskas, when he trumpets the state’s climate record in a bid to host COP31, is that gas is not a climate solution.
Gas, or natural gas as it is marketed, is mainly methane, which the United Nations cites as 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
Methane accounts for roughly 30 per cent of global warming and is growing faster than at any other time since records began.
And COP is all about debating how to phase out gas, coal and oil use.
Last year in Dubai, COP28 ended with a call to “transition away” from fossil fuels. Scientists know we must halve the use of coal, petrol and gas in the next six years to avoid tipping points that would put everything we love at risk.
Is South Australia trying to reduce gas use? No, it’s looking for more.
The gas industry is so influential in South Australia that Santos CEO, Kevin Gallagher, was named as the Advertiser’s most powerful person for 2023. Malinauskas was third.
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Sponsorships and advertising are a cornerstone of that power. These tactics are deployed to entrench company influence and delay the policies that would put gas out of business.
In 2021, Comms Declare conservatively estimated that fossil fuel corporations spent $5 million in South Australia just on TV, radio and billboard ads. This includes around a quarter of a million dollars from Santos, which doesn’t even sell anything to the public. And it doesn’t include the oil and gas company’s controversial sponsorship of the Tour Down Under.
You don’t spend $5 million for nothing.
In June, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on all governments to ban advertising from coal, oil and gas companies. He said this because of fossil fuel companies’ long history of heating the atmosphere and lying about it.
In his speech, Guterres said coal, oil and gas corporations are the “godfathers of climate chaos” who had distorted the truth and deceived the public for decades and are now delaying the transition to renewables.
The UNFCCC, which runs the COP talks, also prohibits any sponsorship deals with fossil fuel corporations.
As it stands, COP delegates could arrive in Adelaide to be confronted by gas billboards at the airport, on the streets and in venues. It would be a repeat of the embarrassing sight at COP26 when Santos was allowed to host a stand at the Australian pavilion to much criticism.
The very minimum the government should do now to win the COP bid is heed the United Nations call and ban fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships. It’s a measure taken by more than 40 jurisdictions in Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Sixteen Australian councils, including the City of Sydney, have voted to restrict fossil fuel promotions on their property and at their events.
Gas and its methane are not climate solutions – they are climate problems.
Let’s take this opportunity to reduce their influence on South Australia and show our best face to the world.
Belinda Noble is the Founder of Comms Declare, a climate communications not-for-profit representing marketing industry professionals.
