Australian Finance Minister Sees Link From Climate Change to Bushfires

(Bloomberg) -- Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said there’s little doubt that the extremity of raging wildfires can be partly linked to climate-change effects.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where climate change and sustainability is a key topic, he said the recent fires were particularly savage.

“Australia has been well prepared to deal with emergencies, but this was a particularly devastating, extreme event,” he said. “There’s no doubt that climate change has had an impact, it worsens the intensity of the events and there is certainly more we need to do to manage the events when they occur.”

Cormann added that the country “absolutely does its bit when it comes to effective action on climate change.”

Massive tracts of land have burned and 2,600 houses have been destroyed in the fires. At least 28 people have died and, with the country only midway through summer and suffering a prolonged drought, authorities fear the toll will continue to rise.

At Davos, activist Greta Thunberg told delegates that while everybody is talking about climate change, nothing is getting done. Hours after she spoke, U.S. President Donald Trump made a thinly veiled attack at the same event on those who warn about looming environmental catastrophe. Cormann labeled the speech, which focused on the U.S. economy, “great” and “fantastic.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Fergal O'Brien in Zurich at fobrien@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Jana Randow

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