Obama Went Ahead and Made the G20 About Climate Change

U.S. President Barack Obama, who arrived in Brisbane in a flurry of armoured limousines, helicopters and broken hearts, has addressed an audience at the University of Queensland, where he urged Australia to rally in the fight against climate change.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott controversially left the issue of climate change off the agenda at the G20 leaders’ summit – sparking a unique protest in Sydney yesterday – but Obama went ahead and addressed it anyway, because he’s Obama.
The Australian report that, to the cheers of the assembled crowd, he announced a $3 billion fund, the aim of which is to help developing countries fight climate change, and challenged the world to do more.
“If the US and China can agree on this, the world can,” he said of the recent climate change agreement between the two countries, singling out the Asia Pacific region for the extreme weather challenges it faces.
Perhaps inspired by the recent adventures of Dunphy-Tucker-Pritchett clan, Barack said that he would like to one day visit the Great Barrier Reef, and hopes that it will still be there for his wife and daughters.
 
The climate fund will help farmers plant “more durable crops” and assist developing economies investing in clean energy, as well as helping vulnerable communities with early-warning systems, storm protection and “climate-resilient infrastructure.”
“Combating climate change cannot be the work of governments alone,” he told the audience. “Citizens — especially young people like you — have to keep raising your voices, because you deserve to live your lives in a world that is cleaner and healthier.”
As Obama and his fellow dignitaries go on to other engagements at the G20 summit, Brisbane will remain locked down tighter than a duck’s arse for the rest of the weekend.
Photo: Glenn Hunt via Getty Images

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