Post of the Day
Where’s the beef with a greener future that also makes us happier and healthier?
The Committee on Climate Change has shown that decarbonising is not only affordable but highly desirable
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Tree Planting Day – Malawi
National Energy Conservation Day – India
Climate Change
High-emitting countries committing ‘climate genocide’ without bigger reductions, Barbados PM says
Mia Mottley says the fate of small and low-lying countries like hers rests in the hands of the world’s major emitters.
Australia’s Black Summer bushfires acted like a volcanic eruption, slightly cooling the globe
Australia’s disastrous 2019-2020 bushfire season blew so much smoke into the upper atmosphere that it blocked sunlight from reaching Earth’s surface, potentially causing a brief global cooling effect comparable to a moderate volcanic eruption, new research has found.
How much did COVID-19 lockdowns decrease emissions?
Yes, lockdowns caused emissions to drop 2.4 billion tonnes. But we’re still rapidly approaching the total amount of carbon the atmosphere can handle before our temperatures cross a dangerous threshold.
The costs of tackling climate change keep on falling [$]
Adair Turner
Over the long term, humanity does not face a trade-off but a clear win-win.
National
The British opposition has reportedly written to Boris Johnson demanding the UK oppose former finance minister’s nomination
CEOs look to Biden for climate leadership
Joe Biden’s leadership on climate change and international relations is good news for Australian CEOs starved of global stability.
Net zero emissions by 2050 ‘not that hard’ [$]
Labor MP Mark Butler says it is ‘not surprising’ Scott Morrison was not invited to speak at a summit on climate change given Australia’s reputation.
Let the traditional owners decide mining, heritage trade-offs [$]
AFR View
Rather than mandatory moratoriums on mine project approvals, it is Indigenous landowners who should be making decisions about the inevitable heritage compromises.
Net zero by 2050 will anchor better carbon policy [$]
AFR View
Australia has rightly put action ahead of greenhouse rhetoric. But it is time to get bolder than we have been.
Victoria
Ten tonnes of rubbish removed from city parks every weekend
The City of Melbourne is removing up to 10 tonnes of waste every weekend from its parks, which have been packed in the aftermath of the city’s harsh COVID-19 lockdown.
Dangerous selfies ‘can kill’: Tourists urged to be sensible after Grampians death
Victoria’s Police Minister Lisa Neville has urged people not to risk their lives by chasing “extreme” photos for social media after a woman fell to her death in the Grampians on Saturday.
Residents fight to protect homes, trees [$]
Residents are fighting a $20 million development plan, saying it will rob them of privacy and heritage.
Alcoa’s $77m carrot to stay put [$]
The federal government has taken a key step to ensuring Alcoa’s Portland aluminium smelter stays open beyond the middle of 2021, offering up a $76.8m package to guarantee the massive energy user continues to play its role in stabilising the east coast energy grid.
Park life: we need better green spaces for a healthy society
Lucie O’Brien
After COVID, we need to prioritise funding for public parks for a healthier and happier society.
Mosman has a climate emergency, but no Woolworths [$]
Aaron Patrick
The wealthy Sydney suburb is sending a message that it is too good for cheap, fresh food.
New South Wales
Authorities ‘nervous’ about Byron Bay beach erosion as big swells lash coast
Byron Bay’s beaches are at risk of further erosion as wild weather creates hazardous tides and damaging conditions along the state’s north coast.
Australia’s top solar research school snares $19m in new funding
The country’s leading solar research centre has secured its first major grant in years with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency tipping in $19 million for equipment to help make clean energy even more competitive.
Golf versus park battle drives wedge between council, MPs
Labor MPs have warned Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore’s plan to halve a popular inner city golf course to create more public open space would render surrounding parkland in Sydney’s east vulnerable to commercial use.
Matt Kean says Joel Fitzgibbon a climate ally in ‘sensible centre’ against ideologues
NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean has claimed a surprise unity ticket on climate policy with outspoken Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon, declaring both were trying to take their respective parties to the “sensible centre” on the issue
Canberra Times editorial
Major global events do strange things to our sense of time. Can it be a year since we watched from afar, in horror, as parts of the NSW South Coast went up in flames?
Queensland
Fire that razed half of Fraser Island finally contained
Heavy rainfall helped extinguish the long-burning blaze, but not before it destroyed more than half of the World Heritage-listed island’s bushland.
Bat with disease deadly to humans found in park [$]
A flying fox that died after it was found in a southeast Queensland park has tested positive for a disease that can be fatal to humans.
South Australia
SA has biggest power price fall
Consumers should expect electricity bills to finally start to fall after more wind and solar drove competition and cut generation prices.
Tasmania
Extinction Rebellion demands climate action at Cataract Gorge
Banners drawing attention to climate change were slung across the Cataract Gorge on Saturday morning as Extinction Rebellion members tried to raise awareness and demand action on the issue.
Northern Territory
On the eve of an exodus from Jabiru, those staying behind face an uncertain future
The town of Jabiru is just a few short weeks from reaching the defining crossroads of its 40-year existence — but authorities and residents say it is still worlds away from being ready for change, and some locals are leaving town forever.
Western Australia
‘Gobsmacked’: how to stop a disaster like Juukan Gorge happening again
Inquiry finds traditional owners were let down by Rio Tinto, the Western Australia and federal governments and native title law
Rio Tinto’s Juukan shame exposes ESG box-ticking [$]
Glynn Cochrane
Social licence ratings are highly prized as corporate PR, but the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves shows these metrics fail to measure the impact of companies on the ground.
Sustainability
Where’s the beef with a greener future that also makes us happier and healthier?
The Committee on Climate Change has shown that decarbonising is not only affordable but highly desirable
Which Christmas tree is more sustainable: real or plastic? or maybe it’s something else entirely
Plastic isn’t ideal, but neither is cutting down trees and chucking them into landfill. This is what we found out.
Climate racism is real. Researchers found it in U.S. cities
A disproportionately high number of poor and non-white people live in the hottest neighborhoods across the country. It’s often the result of discriminatory practices by banks and local governments.
A water crisis: How climate change affects our health
Philtino in South Africa and Shivday in India are already living with the reality of drought and flooding. We look at how their communities, and so many others are dealing with a lack of clean water.
The era of fossil fuel power plants is rapidly receding. Here is their life expectancy
What if President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to get to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035 turns out to involve not radical disruption but a smooth transition?
Indigenous activists speak out against plans to import radioactive material to southeast Utah
When locations were chosen more than half a century ago for the dozens of uranium mills that dot the Four Corners landscape, one common factor was almost always considered: proximity to productive uranium mines.
Having kids increases global warming. But don’t blame the parents…
Eva Wiseman
When world leaders get serious about reducing carbon emissions, we can raise families determined to improve the planet’s future
Time to learn lessons of the past on nuclear
Helen Caldicott
The threat of nuclear warfare is ever-present despite the horrors of the past.
Flamethrower drone used to incinerate wasp nests
The six-armed drone is equipped with a petrol tank and a nozzle which spits bursts of fire onto hives, protecting villagers in the central Chinese region from being stung.
Deadliest plastics: bags and packaging biggest marine life killers, study finds
Wide-ranging review finds whales, dolphins, turtles and seabirds at mortal risk from marine debris
The stakes of Trump’s push to sell oil drilling rights in the Arctic refuge
A majority of voters don’t support drilling in the Arctic refuge. Trump is doing it anyway.
—
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.