Why Australia, the US and Japan are banned from speaking at the UN's flagship climate summit

At the United Nations’ crunch climate change summit on Monday world leaders will be asked to commit to ramping up efforts to tackle climate change and limit global emissions.

But in an unusual move the UN is only allowing countries announcing ambitious new carbon-cutting targets, or assisting developing countries fight climate change, to speak at the event.

The decision means that nations including Japan, Australia and South Africa will be barred from the main stage during the summit due to their continued support for coal.

The US will also be excluded because of Donald Trump’s intentions to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement – and the president is not expected to attend the summit.

Saudi Arabia and Brazil, who have also criticised the landmark pact, will be snubbed from speaking – while Jair Bolsanaro and Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison are also reported to be avoiding the event.

The exclusion of these countries is not a complete surprise.

Antonio Guterres, the UN’s secretary-general, has previously told governments to “bring plans, not speeches” to the plenary session in New York, which is taking place ahead of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Reports this week suggests that he will follow through on this demand.

“We are losing the fight against climate change,” Mr Guterres said on Wednesday. “I expect that there will be the announcement and unveiling of a number of meaningful plans on reducing emissions in the next decade and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.”

The UN’s deputy secretary general, Amina Mohammed added: “We will see on Monday who is stepping up. We will see what climate leadership looks like.”

While the UN’s move has been praised by environmental groups, it is not without controversy.

Coal has emerged as a pivotal issue ahead of the summit. More than 100 coal power stations are currently being built,  including new plants in Japan and South Africa.

But China and India, two of the world’s largest emitters of carbon and biggest builders of coal stations, are among roughly 60 countries – including the UK, France and Germany – expected to speak at the summit.

The two vast nations are likely to use their three minute slots to call for trillions of dollars more in climate funding from the developed world, but it is not yet certain if they will make any concrete commitments.

Both are under considerable pressure to adopt more ambitious climate-related targets.

Reports have suggested that countries will be permitted to speak at the meeting if they commit one of three goals: be carbon neutral by 2050, “significantly” increase targets to cut emissions, or make a “meaningful” pledge to the Green Climate Fund.

This is a pot of money provided by wealthy countries to aid developing economies fight climate change and avoid fossil fuels.

The summit has been called because global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise despite commitments made in the Paris climate agreement.

In 2015, 195 countries including the European Union pledged to limit global warming to below 2C – but at the current rate, the world is on track for at least 3C of warming by the end of the century.

Climate has emerged as a key issue at the UNGA this year amid global climate protests, led by the teenager Greta Thunberg.

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