Greta Thunberg says “even a snail” can see Australia is too slow, at the summit where Australia runs the talks

Greta Thunberg has added her voice to criticism of Australia’s climate record at the COP31 summit in Antalya, Turkey, telling reporters on Thursday that the case against Australia’s pace was obvious.

Thunberg was sharing a press conference with campaigners from Australia, Nepal, Rwanda and Gaza when she was asked whether she agreed with Rikki Dank, a Gundanji and Wakaya Traditional Owner, that Australia was too slow. “Even a snail would agree with that,” she said, calling it common sense.

Dank had urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to stop approving new and extended fossil fuel projects. The Prime Minister, she said, needed to “stop speaking and start listening” to Australians calling for no more new coal, oil and gas.

Thunberg also said the Prime Minister should listen to people around the world who do not want Australia to keep exporting coal, oil and gas, along with the climate harm that comes with them. Her appearance drew such crowds that it caused congestion inside the summit venue, which has drawn more than 92,000 attendees.

What did Albanese say?

Albanese, who arrived in Antalya on Wednesday for the leaders’ summit, said Thunberg was “entitled to her views”. He said Australia was making substantial progress, defended the government’s practical plans to cut emissions, and used the summit to press for backing for the Pacific Resilience Facility.

Neither Albanese nor Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has engaged with calls to stop approving fossil fuel projects. Both have focused on renewable energy, electrification and the government’s emissions targets, including the 2035 target of a 62 to 70 per cent cut on 2005 levels.

Why does this sting more than usual?

Because Australia has an unusual role at this summit. It bid to host COP31 in Adelaide, then gave way to Turkey under a compromise that made Bowen President of Negotiations and put a pre-COP meeting in the Pacific, held in Fiji in October. In his address on Thursday Bowen warned of a “polycrisis” and promoted a pledge to lift electricity’s share of global energy use to 35 per cent by 2035.

That arrangement puts Australia’s own record under a brighter light than any host’s: the country chairing the talks is also one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and gas, and Dank’s criticism goes straight to that.

Who is Greta Thunberg to this summit?

Thunberg, 23, attended COP talks in 2018 and 2019 and in 2021 dismissed the Glasgow summit as “blah, blah, blah”. She has stayed away from recent conferences, and returned this year to push leaders to act, saying the climate crisis is already a matter of life and death.