Albanese slammed for COP31 address | Morning News Bulletin 12 November 2026

Detailed summary

Prime minister Albanese slammed for failing to mention fossil fuels at the climate summit; Police launch investigation, after human torso was discovered in Sydney; Jillaroos stars ready for Sunday's World Cup final showdown against New Zealand.

Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.

Independent Senator David Pocock has criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to mention fossil fuels in his call for global climate action.

Addressing world leaders at the COP31 summit in Türkiye, Mr Albanese urged countries to speed up the transition to clean energy.

He said climate ambitions must be backed by action and called on world leaders to help Pacific nations tackle climate change.

But Senator Pocock says if Australia is serious about helping the Pacific, it must stop expanding fossil fuel projects.

"The fact that the prime minister not once mentioned fossil fuels, I think shows you how captured the major parties are by the fossil fuel industry. They want to be able to talk about the good stuff we're doing, but not the fact that the Albanese government has approved 38 fossil fuel project, uh, new projects or extensions since they came into office. And that is not compatible with a livable Pacific."

Ahead of Albanese's speech, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees requires no new coal, oil or gas infrastructure.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with the leaders of Norway and Türkiye on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit.

Mr Albanese and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed their joint leadership of the conference and efforts to turn climate commitments into action.

Opening of the article, excerpted from SBS News. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.