‘Mass delusion': Energy experts say UN climate boss ‘off with the fairies' after claiming Australia's carbon emissions ‘overheating' the planet

Sky News AU

29-07-2025

The United Nation's top climate change official Simon Stiell has been rubbished by energy experts for pushing an alarmist message that Australia was 'overheating' the planet without mentioning China's ballooning carbon emissions.
The United Nation's climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell piled pressure onto the Albanese government and said that Australia was allowing the planet to 'overheat' and that it should 'not settle for what's easy' when determining its 2035 emission reduction targets.
The climate tzar bizarrely declared that fruits would become a 'once-a-year treat' if Labor did not lift its clean energy ambitions and that only countries that acted 'boldly today' would reap the benefits of the energy transition.
'Mega-droughts (will make) fresh fruit and veg a once-a-year treat. In total, the country could face a $6.8 trillion GDP loss by 2050,' Mr Stiell forebodingly warned at an event hosted by the Smart Energy Council on Monday in Sydney.
Senior fellow and chief economist at the Institute of Public Affairs Adam Creighton labelled Mr Stiell's comments as 'ludicrous fearmongering' and 'mass delusion.'
'Almost exactly two years ago UN Secretary General Guterres said 'the era of global boiling has arrived'. Informed Australians are likely to see his colleagues' comments as yet another example of ludicrous fearmongering,' Mr Creighton told SkyNews.com.au.
He also drew attention to the fact that China and India were emitting more coal in a single year than Australia did in a week.
'Steill's demand that Australia reduce its greenhouse emissions further should be ignored and condemned given Australia's contribution to global emissions has fallen to barely more than 1 per cent.'
Mr Creighton stressed that Australia should not be expected to bear the weight of climate change when the world's largest polluters continued to increase its emissions and that Mr Stiell's comments were contradictory and false.
'If Steill was serious about reducing global emissions he'd be saving his hysterical words for China and India, none of whom are taking 'net zero' seriously, as has become clear by their soaring use of coal to power their development."
China and India's share of global emissions have risen to 40 per cent, more than triple that of America's contribution, with China also increasing its annual carbon dioxide emissions by 7.9 billion tons a year since 2000.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan denounced Mr Stiell's remarks, and told Sky News the UN's climate boss was 'off with the fairies.'
'Agriculture production has never been higher, it's insane, it's ridiculous and we cannot be led by people that have clearly not got a proper grasp on how the world works.'
Mr Canavan said the only reason Mr Stiell was in Australia was due to the government vying for hosting rights for the COP 31 conference in 2026 and that the country was 'being taken for mugs.'
'Clearly Chris Bowen wants to bring this climate jamboree to Australia next year, that's why he has got this UN guy here, when the UK hosted the climate conference it costed $500 million, this is going to be The Voice 2.0.'
Centre for Independent Studies energy analyst Jude Bilk said the United Nations should not be expect Australia to shoulder any load that is 'not being equally shouldered internationally.'
'We are incredibly naive to presume that we can have any material impact, let alone 'set an example' for these nations,' Mr Bilk said.
'The rhetoric of perma-crisis from the UN is beginning to sound shrill to the Australian public, who are already experiencing rising energy costs – with plenty more problems to come.'
Mr Bilk said the appropriate response from Australia would be to 'tell Simon Stiell to stick it up his jumper.'
Mr Bowen when pressed about Mr Stiell's verbal spray regarding emission reduction targets said that 'targets were easier set than met' and that Australia would act on advice from domestic bodies.
'Targets are easier set than met – we will set a target informed by the expert advice in the national interest,' Mr Bowen said on Tuesday.
The federal government will be required in the coming month to legislate its 2035 emission reduction targets, which will be finalised once the Climate Change Authority chaired by former NSW Liberal Premier Matt Kean hands down its advice.