A bid by environmentalists to confront world leaders with a digital billboard highlighting climate change has been thwarted by Brisbane airport authorities who deemed the message too political.

 

Brisbane Airport will be the Australian gateway for leaders of 20 economies when they gather in the Queensland state capital next week for the annual G20 summit.

 

Dermot O'Gorman, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, said Monday he was surprised that the Brisbane Airport Corp. had refused to allow the climate change message in the international arrivals hall as part of the #onmyagenda campaign.

 

The campaign is supported by nine environment groups and encourages people to tweet G20 leaders asking them to include climate change as a stand-alone item on the G20 agenda, as it was on the previous eight G20 summits.

 

The ad was to feature Australian farmer David Bruer with the caption: "Action on climate change is #onmyagenda. Please put it on yours."

 

Airport spokeswoman Leonie Vandeven said the corporation's policy was to refuse advertising that "has political intent."

 

Australia is chairing the G20 summit and has resisted pressure from countries including the United States to include climate change on the economic forum's agenda.

 

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's 14-month-old government has been widely criticized for repealing a carbon tax which had been paid by 350 of Australia's worst greenhouse gas polluters for two years.

 

 

PHOTO: In this undated image provided by the World Wildlife Fund a copy of a billboard ad is shown. The environmentalists’ plan to confront world leaders attending the annual G20 summit with the digital billboard highlighting climate change has been thwarted, Monday, Nov. 3, 2014, by Brisbane airport authorities who deemed the message too political. Brisbane Airport will be the Australian gateway for leaders of 20 economies when they gather in the Queensland state capital next week for the annual G20 summit.

CREDIT: AP Photo/World Wildlife Fund.