Climate Minister Chris Bowen spent $30,564 of taxpayers’ money on flights to three international environmental conferences in less than six months, while urging Australians to cut their emissions.
Documents released last week by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority showed Mr Bowen billed taxpayers $19,204 for travel to Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore for a G20 environmental conference last July.
He posted one photo from the trip on social media, captioning it as saying he had “had a busy few days promoting Australia as a renewable energy powerhouse” and that he had met with other climate ministers to “call for greater ambition on clean energy”.
A month later, in August, he claimed $9,343 for a three-day trip to Fiji for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Bowen then charged taxpayers another $2,017 for two trips to Dubai in November and December for COP28, the UN climate conference. He was widely criticized during the trip.
The carbon emissions from these trips alone increased Mr Bowen’s carbon footprint by an estimated 47 tonnes.
At the conference, Mr Bowen boldly called for a complete end to coal and gas power, but other countries rejected this outright.
Chris Bowen is pictured with Assistant Minister for Climate Change Jenny McAllister at COP28 in December 2023
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is pictured at the COP28 conference in Dubai
“We have to face this fact head on,” he told the UN meeting. “If we want to maintain 1.5 degrees, fossil fuels will no longer play a sustainable role in our energy systems.
‘I speak as Minister of Climate and Energy of one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels in the world.’
But when Bowen flew back from the two-week summit in Dubai, the conference presented a draft agreement that made no commitment to end fossil fuels and had pledges so watered down that climate activists called it a “shameful and abject failure.”
He also faced criticism for opening his speech at the Dubai conference with a modified acknowledgement of the land, typically used to honour traditional Aboriginal owners.
Despite carbon-intensive air travel around the world, Bowen has pushed for Australians to adhere to fuel efficiency standards from 2025 to reduce emissions, meaning carbon penalties would be imposed on certain car models.
Owners of Australia’s best-selling car in 2023, the Ford Ranger, could face an additional $6,150 in fines, according to estimates from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
A graphical mock-up of Chris Bowen’s foreign travels
Chris Bowen is pictured, center, at the G20 conference held in India, Korea and Japan
Chris Bowen is pictured at a G20 meeting in India in July 2023
Mr Bowen’s other expenses for the October-December 2023 quarter included $16,596 on commercial air travel for travel without a will, $3,815 on personal automobile expenses, and $125,529 on printing and communications.
Mr. Bowen took ten employees on trips during the same quarter. The expenses were $138,661, of which $113,054 was for domestic travel and the remaining $25,607 for international travel.
His total expenses for the quarter were $431,285, nearly double the amount he claimed for the final quarter of 2022, in which he spent $269,997.
Last year, Mr Bowen was criticised for taking his own private jet to a climate conference instead of hitching a ride with Anthony Albanese.
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