It has been recently reported that Chris Bowen, the Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister in the Albanese Cabinet, will be taking on a second (unpaid) job.

A job completely unrelated to the Australian taxpayer…

Mr Bowen will serve as the President of Negotiations at COP 31 which Turkey will host in 2026.

When describing his role, Mr Bowen said:

‘As COP President of Negotiations, I would have all the powers of COP presidency to manage, to handle the negotiations, to appoint co-facilitators, to prepare text, and to issue the cover decision.’

Whilst his job description is about as clear as mud, one thing is very clear – there is no mention of how this role will benefit the Australian people.

In the middle of a price-escalating energy crisis in Australia, which has resulted in a cost-of-living blowout, the energy tsar appointed by Prime Minister Albanese is taking a leave of absence because he has something better to do. He is doing so with the blessing of the Prime Minister and the approval of all his Cabinet colleagues.

What was clear is that when Mr Bowen attempted to describe his new job with COP 31, he tried to make it sound important. After all, if the Minister of a sovereign country is seconded to take on a role with another organisation, it cannot be a menial, trivial, or tokenistic position. It would need to be one of extreme importance to the world. Such a responsible job would require time, effort, and dedication.

The trouble for Mr Bowen is that he already has a job that precisely fell in line with such responsibilities.

A Minister of the Crown in Australia is paid by the Australian taxpayer to work for them on a full-time basis to deliver the best outcome for his or her portfolio.

COP, which is an acronym for Conference of the Parties, relates to a United Nations annual meeting of approximately 200 delegates to discuss climate change. It usually amounts to nothing more than an alarmist bastion of misinformation which achieves nothing helpful (although it tends to cost Australian taxpayers massive amounts of money through fresh promises and pledges).

At COP 30 in Brazil, the final climate deal excluded the phasing out of fossil fuels.

Considering the delegates included Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia, resistance to the phasing out of fossil fuels is not surprising. President Trump has no intention of reducing fossil fuel mining in the USA, nor do Middle Eastern countries, India, Japan, and most African nations. Even Brazil, where COP 30 took place, has increased its coal mining and is building more coal mines.

Mr Bowen’s own colleagues in Cabinet ratified an agreement between the USA and Australia for the sale of rare earth minerals in the amount of $13 billion, which means significant fossil fuel mining.

Mr Bowen and his COP colleagues are continually promoting that they are supported by ‘the science’ in their extreme alarmist positions. Yet many, if not more scientists, completely disagree that the emission of CO2 is an existential threat to the planet.

The Institute of Public Affairs recently invited a US scientist Professor William Happer to give a talk in Victoria about CO2 emissions.

Professor Happer concluded using mathematical calculations that if you doubled CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere there would only be a 1 per cent increase in radiation. This would, over the next century, increase global warming by at most 0.71 per cent by the end of the century. The professor does not deny CO2 emissions, both natural and anthropogenic warm the planet. He and other climate scientists accept that such global warming helps mankind survive on the planet. Such gases are extremely beneficial to the growth of plants.

Crop yields, Professor Happer reports, are growing better now than 50 years ago because there is more CO2 in the atmosphere. In fact, the more CO 2 in the atmosphere, the less water is needed to grow plants.

COP conferences are becoming less relevant, which leads us to ask, what is the motive behind Mr Bowen becoming ‘president of negotiations’?

If a senior executive and Board member of a billion-dollar Australia-wide corporation with millions of shareholders and over a million employees, decided to moonlight with an unrelated corporation, questions would be asked.

Australians need to ensure that staff members on the taxpayer payroll will not be taken away from their jobs to assist in this COP role.

We also need to be sure that there is proper separation between any COP staff and the Australian Climate Change and Energy Ministry.