"Down Under" is one of the dream destinations of German vacationers.

For years, Australia's image was characterized by cute koalas, the outback and endless sandy beaches.

But for some time it has been making headlines, especially with disaster news.

Droughts, floods and fires now seem to be part of everyday life.

Even now there is flooding in eastern Australia again.

In the state of New South Wales, it has already been declared a natural disaster in order to be able to free up funds for the flood victims more quickly.

Sydney is particularly affected: In the greater metropolitan area, entire areas were flooded meters high.

Till Fähnders

Political correspondent for Southeast Asia.

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For some flood areas, this is the fourth time in six months that they have had to battle the floodwaters.

Meanwhile, from the north, in the Darwin region, the first fires of the local bushfire season are reported.

The dimensions are far removed from the fires in the "Black Summer" of 2019 to 2020.

But for the people in the affected areas, they can be just as disastrous.

In addition, the Great Barrier Reef is still grappling with the effects of a coral bleaching event, the fourth in just six years.

In the meantime, many former skeptics have also come to the conclusion that Australia is feeling the consequences of climate change in this way - and probably even more than many other countries.

Some Australians are now faced with the problem of not even being able to insure their homes.

A few months ago, then-Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that it was “getting more and more difficult to live in Australia.”

At that time he was visiting the town of Lismore in northern New South Wales, which was hit particularly hard by the floods in March of this year.

“He only went where he was protected and talked to business people who liked him.

Otherwise he would have been scolded,” Dee Mold, an environmental activist and resident of the town, tells the FAZ in Lismore.

Conservatives did too little

The problem: Despite the hard-to-deny facts, Morrison insisted on a climate policy that fell far short of what even Australia's closest allies like Britain and the US saw fit.

As a result, Australia got the image of a climate policy scumbag abroad.

Due to external pressure, shortly before the climate conference in Glasgow, she decided to set herself the goal of climate neutrality by 2050.

However, she stuck to the unambitious short-term climate goals.

According to this, Australia committed to reducing carbon emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2030 (based on 2005).

The government has been accused of failing to meet Australia's responsibilities as one of the countries with the highest emissions per capita.

In addition, she was accused

Dee Mold was therefore among a group of Lismore citizens who threw rubbish from their flooded homes in front of the Prime Minister's seat in Canberra.

For the activist it is a satisfaction that she is finally getting more encouragement after years of working for the environment.

"Until then, we were the lone voices in the wilderness," says Mold.

"But with the bushfires, the mood has changed." Climate change was given in a poll as the top priority of voters.

Local administrations, companies and even mining groups are increasingly committed to an ambitious climate protection policy.

In Australia it's like a small revolution.

Hardly anywhere else in the world has there been such a debate over the past three decades as there.

power of the mining corporations

In the most recent election in May, the tide suddenly turned.

Even in some traditionally conservative constituencies, the Green Party candidates and some independent Teal Independents made life difficult for the ruling party.

In the end, however, it was the Social Democrats who were even able to win an absolute majority in Parliament.

Under the new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, one of their first official acts has now been to submit Australia's new climate targets to the United Nations.

Compared to the base year 2005, Australia wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by 43 percent by 2030.

However, this is still well below what the Greens and the independents had written on the flags.

Some see it as the bare minimum of what needs to be done.

Your critics also complain

The newcomer in Canberra doesn't dare to do that, given the power that emanates from the mining companies.

It is therefore questionable whether Australia can go from being a pariah to being a clean man in terms of climate policy.

The news of the disaster is causing the rest of the world to take an increasing interest in what is happening in Australia.

The 15th International Coral Reef Symposium ICRS is taking place in Bremen these days.

Around 1,100 researchers from more than 80 countries are expected there by Friday.

In addition, around 500 experts want to join in virtually.

Since it will be about threatened coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, as the largest reef system in the world, should also be addressed.

The previous government had repeatedly tried

to prevent the reef from being delisted from the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The conference may already show which direction the new government is taking on the subject.