Post of the Day
Curious Kids: why can’t we just build a pipe to move water to areas in drought?
Ken Doust
The Australian landscape is very old and the soils in inland areas can be very fragile.
Today’s Celebration
Revolution Day (Armed Forces Day) in Mozambique
National Youth Day in Nauru
National Tree Day in Canada
National Harki Day in France
National Comic Book Day in the USA
Feast of Saint Nicholas of Flüe – Switzerland
Climate Change
The countries smashing their emissions reductions targets and the ones letting the world down
Greta Thunberg has zeroed in on five countries that are not on track to meet their goals – but others are stepping up.
Jacinda Ardern announces ambitious climate pledge at the UN
Asia Pacific leaders have outlined ambitious plans to step up climate change action at a UN meeting.
Top quotes from the UN Climate Summit
Some of the best quotes from the United Nations Summit for Climate Action in New York.
More companies than ever committed to ambitious climate action at Climate Week
Climate Week NYC is witnessing its busiest year yet for ambitious corporate action with 20+ new commitments on cleaner, smarter energy, The Climate Group has revealed – but a vast global scale-up is still needed to deliver on the Paris Agreement and limit a global temperature rise to 1.5˚C.
Most of world’s biggest firms ‘unlikely’ to meet Paris climate targets
Only a fifth of the companies will remain on track, according to analysis of their disclosures
Australian government seen globally as climate ‘denialist’, UN summit observers say
Experts at the meeting say Australia is seen as ‘engaging in greenwashing’ and using accounting tricks to increase emissions
Scott Morrison ducks questions on Australia’s emissions strategy for 2050
UN climate summit focus is on net zero by 2050 but Australian PM says challenge ‘not just about climate change’
Climate summit leaves world asking, is it enough? [$]
The UN summit underscored tensions between a burgeoning activist movement and global leaders over transformational changes needed to avoid the worst effects in decades to come.
UN chief’s climate anger caught on tape [$]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres slammed governments for not doing more on climate change and urged businesses to ‘leverage’ strength to fight fossil-fuel subsidies.
Australia has dodged global attention on fossil fuels because of assiduous diplomatic efforts
Richie Merzian and Fergus Green
If the country doubles its coal production, the Paris climate agreement goals cannot be met
Highly touted UN climate summit failed to deliver – and Scott Morrison failed to show up
Matt McDonald
The summit was supposed to get global climate action back on track. But despite a few bright spots, the urgent action needed to avoid a climate catastrophe looks a long way off.
We can’t tackle climate change without tackling striking laws [$]
Benjamin Clark
How much larger and more effective would climate protests be if Australian workers truly had the right to strike?
However much you care or don’t, you should watch Greta’s UN speech
Jono La Nauze
With searing anger, she has delivered the most rational of responses to the existential crisis unfolding before us.
‘This is all wrong’: A transcript of Greta Thunberg’s Climate Summit speech
Greta Thunberg
“I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!”
Climate fire and brimstone damns technology’s role in solutions [$]
Gerard Baker
It’s been noted before that the cause of addressing climate change has become something like the modern world’s version of a secular religion. A kind of climate theology has replaced traditional Christianity as the ultimate source of authority over human behaviour, comprising both an all-embracing teleology of our existence and a prescriptive moral code.
Deciphering what Greta really meant [$]
Graham Lloyd
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg’s performance before the UN needs to be challenged.
Climate gospel of teen ‘saint’ Greta Thunberg [$]
Jamie Walker
You have to hand it to Greta Thunberg, the ponytailed prophet of climate change. Whatever future the planet might have, hers is assured.
Greta isn’t inspiring. She is a victim of child abuse [$]
Miranda Devine
While Scott Morrison talked sense in New York, the same cannot be said about the raving climate evangelist and UN darling Greta Thunberg. Someone should be arrested for child abuse.
National
Taylor to finally face up to energy ministers, but will he face up to clean energy future?
Reluctant Angus Taylor finally sets a date to face up to COAG Energy Council as state ministers grow impatient with lack of progress.
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ANZ joins RE100 and commits to source 100% renewables by 2025
Australian big four bank pledges to source 100% of its electricity from renewables by 2025, joining Westpac and Commonwealth Bank in global RE100 initiative.
The Driven Podcast: Why EVs already make financial sense for fleet managers
Anna Skarbek, the head of ClimateWorks Australia, on the key role of electric vehicles in meeting emissions reduction targets, and why they already make financial sense for fleet owners.
‘Business is taking the lead’ on climate action: Geoff Cousins
Businessman and environmentalist Geoff Cousins wasn’t in New York, but he was watching Greta Thunberg’s speech to the UN.
Charity saving lids from landfill asked to put a cap on donations
Lids 4 Kids is processing 50,000 bottle caps a week. But with nowhere for them to go, they’re piling up inside one Canberra man’s home.
Climate change could stretch our capabilities, Defence Force chief speech warns
Increasingly frequent natural disasters caused by climate change could stretch the capability of the Australian Defence Force, according to a speech prepared for the Defence Force Chief.
Sir David Attenborough slams Australia’s record on climate change
Sir David Attenborough has singled out Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his lack of action on climate change, describing the Great Barrier Reef as a “tragic sight”.
Barnaby Joyce spent less than three weeks on the ground while drought envoy
Travel records emerge as former deputy PM takes to Facebook to defend his work as Scott Morrison’s special envoy
Safety the gateway to community licence for hydrogen [$]
Facts and simple truth-telling are needed to calm legitimate concerns about the hydrogen economy, says the chief scientist
Industry ‘must lead way on environment’ [$]
Scott Morrison has declared that global environmental challenges are not “just about climate change” and that industry, not government, has to lead the way in dealing with plastic pollution and recycling.
Transmission losses limit renewables [$]
Global financiers and green energy developers have warned that Australia’s pipeline of renewable generation projects faces gridlock, as concerns over transmission losses threaten to derail billions of dollars of investment.
Coalition to fund dam building [$]
The Morrison government is set to announce funding for a series of dams for rural communities across Australia.
Climate action is important, but how good is cardboard box recycling!
Sophie Vorrath
Scott Morrison is not doing the Climate Summit, but boy does he have a plan to combat catastrophic global warming: put the blame on China and recycle cardboard boxes.
Curious Kids: why can’t we just build a pipe to move water to areas in drought?
Ken Doust
The Australian landscape is very old and the soils in inland areas can be very fragile.
World leaders discussed climate. The PM admired a ‘smart Drive-Thru’
Matthew Knott
Scott Morrison’s absence from the UN Climate Summit left a notable, Australia-shaped hole at the event.
Australia is the runaway global leader in building new renewable energy
Matthew Stocks et al
Australia is installing renewable energy at more than ten times the global average. This is excellent news, but raises serious questions about integrating this electricity into our grids.
Real problem, wrong solution: why the Nationals shouldn’t politicise the science replication crisis
Martin Bush et al
Across science, only around half of published results can be successfully replicated. But while this is a serious problem, the proposed public audit looks like a political bid to cast doubt on science.
Victoria
Port Phillip Council resumes recycling run
Port Phillip’s household recycling will resume being sent for processing from Monday(30 September).
Recycling bins and other rubbish efforts to tidy the planet
James Joyce
Don’t you hate it when you do everything right to mindfully assess and separate your household waste and fill your recycling bin properly only to see your rubbish neighbours wheel out a yellow-lidded bin laden with plastic bags and overflowing with other stupid junk that will contaminate your household’s conscientiously-sorted recyclables?
New South Wales
Despite Bylong rejection, NSW still at risk of oversupply from new coal mines
Coal mine refusal is another red flag for KEPCO’s overseas coal projects.
Level 4 water restrictions for Dubbo as calls made for statewide water rules
NSW has no ‘standard definition’ for water restrictions, leaving it to councils to work out for themselves.
Mining industry campaigns for NSW changes
The NSW Minerals Council is calling for urgent changes to the state’s planning system, saying it has become a lottery for major developments.
‘Vegan vigilantes’: Green groups attack proposed trespassing laws
Environmental and union groups say proposed new laws aimed at stopping animal welfare activists who trespass onto farms could criminalise protests that have nothing to do with farming.
Water minister must act to unlock the potential of recycling
Clover Moore
Every building that is constructed without recycled water piping, and every day that goes by without recycled wastewater pumping, is an opportunity missed.
Greenie mayors leave Sydney’s roads in ruins [$]
Angira Bharadwaj, Georgia Clark
Sydney councils raking in cash from parking fines while failing to fix pothole-filled roads are focusing their energy on declaring climate emergencies.
ACT
Opposition wants gas plan scrapped, warns of ‘devastating impact’ on low-income Canberrans
ACT Opposition Leader Alistair Coe is urging the government to scrap plans to phase out household gas usage, warning it could have a “devastating impact” on low-income earners.
Canberra start-up solving reliable energy riddle with national trials
The sun shines and the sky’s clear except for a few small clouds scudding overhead at Royalla Solar Farm.
Queensland
Despite region’s drought, dam to drop to 42pc capacity in major release of water Farmers in the drought-declared Bundaberg region are angry 105,000 megalitres of water will be released from Paradise Dam, saying it will go to waste at a time when water availability is so critical.
Measures to control feral deer population
Rockhampton Council is taking significant strides to control the region’s feral deer population, as outlined today in a report to the Planning and Regulatory Committee
Technology used on dinosaur fossils saves ancient ‘crown jewel’ from demise
An ancient rainforest tree carving of a “supernatural being” has been rescued from decay by archaeologists, preserving the endangered artefact for future generations.
South Australia
‘It looks like he just stretched out and died’: Pelicans in peril as drought’s grip tightens
Pelicans and other waterbirds are dying in the outback and disappearing from waterways, as the effects of drought compound an already-concerning long-term decline in populations.
The kangaroo population in the Mount Lofty Ranges is increasing, driving more of them to come in closer contact with people as they search for food and shelter.
The climate is right for pollution musical [$]
With recent student strikes putting environmental issues firmly on the radar, ARIA-winning teacher Scott Maxwell says it is perfect timing for the debut of his new musical this week.
Waste dump court bid could bring extra costs, delays [$]
A court injunction to stop a vote on Kimba hosting a nuclear waste dump could mean high costs and delays in the project, a court has heard.
SA a ‘world leader’ in clean energy future [$]
South Australia has been hailed as ground zero in the world’s clean energy transition, as Premier Steven Marshall commits a further $1 million to hydrogen.
Tasmania
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor has questioned a political rival on his non-attendance at last week’s climate strike in Hobart.
Affordable housing plan ‘detrimental’ to swift parrots [$]
A planned social hosing development would threaten local wildlife, including the endangered swift parrot, opponents say.
‘Turning point in little penguins’ survival’
More dead penguins have been found on an East Coast beach, taking the total number of the animals killed in the past year to nearly 200.
Western Australia
Carnegie Clean Energy scrapes together funds to recapitalise wave business
Carnegie relies on third party investors to help reach minimum fund raising target for the re-capitalisation of its wave energy business.
WA government feels the heat over health department’s $750,000 climate change inquiry
WA Health will spend almost three quarters of a million dollars on a year-long inquiry into how it can tackle climate change and cope with its impacts.
Sustainability
China is trying to control its coal-fuelled electricity, but it’s not succeeding
After years of decline, China’s coal production is now at the highest point it’s been for five years. And that is not good.
Pacific islands seek $500m to make ocean’s shipping zero carbon
Coalition of six nations aims to raise funds and achieve full decarbonisation by 2050
Plastic is actually fantastic, we just need to recycle it properly
Garry Linnell
It was enough to get you humming a few bars of Kum Ba Yah and searching through the wardrobe for a pair of high-waisted flared pants and platform shoes.
Nature Conservation
‘We don’t even have masks’: Residents worry as skies turn blood red in Indonesia
Skies turn to what’s described as post-apocalyptic blood red in parts of Indonesia because of a widespread forest fire which continues to burn.
Hawaii corals suffer amid Pacific heatwave
Hawaii’s coral are suffering widespread bleaching after months of record heat in the Pacific.
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