‘Short on substance’: Albanese urges climate action on world stage – but advocates say Australia failing on fossil fuels

<p>Prime minister says ‘climate security is the new national security’ in keynote speech in New York</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2026/sep/22/anthony-albanese-new-york-united-nations-intergenerational-report-coalition-one-nation-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/10/sign-up-for-the-clear-air-australia-environment-newsletter-with-adam-morton?CMP=cvau_sfl">Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here</a></p></li></ul><p>Australia understands the dangers of global warming and the urgency of climate action as much as any other country, Anthony Albanese has said in a keynote speech shortly before the United Nations general assembly.</p><p>Giving the opening address at a Climate Week event in New York on Monday<strong>,</strong> the prime minister said Australians had experienced the impact of climate breakdown up close with a series of disastrous bushfires and floods in the past decades.</p><p><strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/10/sign-up-for-the-clear-air-australia-environment-newsletter-with-adam-morton?CMP=copyembed">Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter</a></strong></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/21/no-avoiding-the-cost-of-inaction-on-climate-anthony-albanese-says-in-new-york">Continue reading...</a>