SYDNEY: Australia is pushing back against calls from Pacific Island leaders to ditch its commitment to coal mining to help combat climate change, saying its neighbours need to respect the country’s reliance on the industry.
The world’s second-biggest coal exporter is increasingly a flash point in the battle against carbon emissions after Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government was reelected in May on a fossil fuel-friendly platform. Now Australia is under fire from nations already threatened from the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels.
