Federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese has pledged solid action on climate change as part of his foreign policy election pitch. The pledge came during a major address to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, where the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader outlined his party’s credentials amid criticism from the federal government that the ALP would be soft on Beijing and defence. “Our allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom, understand that the global climate emergency is a direct threat to global security,” he said. “Without meaningful action, climate change will create major population displacement, drive a surge in refugees, and create new grounds for conflict over ever scarcer clean water and fertile land.” Albanese said that if he were elected, he would ask the director-general of National Intelligence, and the secretary of the Department of Defence to carry out a risk assessment of the implications of climate change for …