Post of the Day
Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general
António Guterres lists human-inflicted wounds on natural world in stark message
On This Day
Feast of Saint Francis Xavier – Spain, India
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
The year 2020 listed among the world’s top three hottest years on record
We’ve suffered bushfires, a global pandemic, a tanking economy and a nail-biting US election all in one year. And now, to top it all off, a new report suggests 2020 is on track to be among the top three hottest years on record.
World is ‘doubling down’ on fossil fuels despite climate crisis – UN report
Production must fall by 6% a year to avoid ‘severe climate disruption’ but Covid-19 funding is supporting increases
Greenland ice sheet faces irreversible melting
Most detailed ever study of Greenland ice sheet warns of irreversible ice loss
National
New Zealand declares climate emergency and promises to become carbon neutral by 2025
New Zealand is now part of a growing list of countries that have made similar declarations, but Australia still refuses to do so.
Greens senator says climate action and Indigenous justice go together
New Greens senator Lidia Thorpe says Australia cannot deal with climate change without also giving justice to Indigenous people because the two are intrinsically linked.
Threatened plant index of Australia: 2020 results
While it’s understood about animal species being under threat, there is a growing understanding of dangers to native plant species.
Green activists are split over Indigenous voice [$]
A division is emerging inside Australia’s green movement over the landmark Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for an Indigenous voice.
Corporate demand for wind and solar hits record level of $2.4bn in 2020
Corporate and government demand for wind and solar contracts hit record levels in 2020 in Australia.
Coal and gas sectors contract as rest of economy bounces back from Covid-19
Australia’s economy is bouncing back, but not thanks to any ‘gas-led recovery’, with coal and gas sectors contracting in latest quarterly GDP figures.
Green hydrogen or green-wash? Industry-led scheme to guarantee origin of supply
Industry bodies seek scheme to guarantee provenance of green hydrogen produced in Australia and prevent “green-washing” in the booming new industry.
‘Unjustifiable’: new report shows how the nation’s gas expansion puts Australians in harm’s way
Tim Baxter
Australia’s latest emissions data, released this week, contained one particularly startling, and unjustifiable, fact. Against all odds, in a year when emissions fell in almost every sector, Australia’s export gas industry still managed to do more climate damage.
Why Australian cities need post-COVID vision, not free parking
Rebecca Clements et al
Many Australian cities have fallen back on offering free car parking to attract visitors back to the CBD after the pandemic. In contrast, cities around the world are basing their recovery strategies on bold and evidence-based urban transformations.
Climate emergency declaration put to both houses: Liberals oppose, Labor split
Adam Bandt
The Liberals and Labor have combined forces to block a Climate Emergency declaration in Australia, on the day our closest neighbours have declared a climate emergency at their Labour Prime Minister’s request.
The Coalition will lose more former heartland seats to independents without a climate plan
Malcolm Turnbull
Progressive female independents hold three once-safe Liberal seats. Their victories are templates for further change
UN report rightfully shames Australia over fossil fuel plans
Fergus Green et al
Australia must start cutting its production of fossil fuels if the world is to meet its Paris target for reducing carbon emissions.
Victoria and South Australia should think again about how they treat electric vehicles
Age editorial
To the dismay of environmentalists and innovators, it is the states that are putting obstacles in the path of positive change.
Policy settings key to accelerating shift towards electric vehicles
SMH editorial
Governments should be incentivising the purchase of electric vehicles, not stifling it. But even EV owners, as future road users, will need to pay their fair share.
Australia’s emissions position absurd
Canberra Times editorial
The Morrison government’s refusal to commit to zero net emissions by 2050 is as inherently absurd as Donald Trump’s insistence he didn’t lose the presidential election. Both epitomise the proverb “there are none so blind as those who will not see”.
Morrison Government throws another Royal Commission on the fire
Michelle Pini
Will the findings of the Bushfire RC create necessary change, or is the Morrison Government just “polly waffling” until the next disaster …
Hidden secrets that Angus Taylor tried to bury in Australia’s latest emissions data
Ketan Joshi
It’s that time again – Australia’s quarterly emissions data has been released by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER). It shows that the ‘tug of war’ between renewable energy decreasing emissions and a fossil gas boom increasing emissions hasn’t shifted.
Victoria
‘No choice but to oppose’: Victorian council says no to controversial mineral sands mine
East Gippsland Shire Council rejects a proposed mineral sands mine east of Melbourne, but the final decision rests with the Planning Minister.
Yarra Council commits to Green New Deal
Yarra Council endorsed a Green New Deal at its meeting on Tuesday 1 December 2020.
How offices’ return has changed public transport [$]
Melbourne’s public transport system is already contesting with a surge in commuters as the city trickles back to normal following lockdown.
Victoria to trial “sophisticated” two-way market for home solar and storage
AusNet Services-led trial will see customer owned assets like rooftop solar compete in the same market as traditional power plants in north-eastern Victoria.
Getting regional development right
Sebastian Fastenrath et al
A new strategic approach to revitalising Victoria’s Gippsland is centred on place-based leadership and could be applied around Australia’s regions
New South Wales
BlueScope says South32 coal mine expansion ‘critical’ to its survival
The steelmaker tells NSW’s Independent Planning Commission that it supports plans to extend the life of the Dendrobium colliery, west of Wollongong, until 2048.
Once thought extinct in NSW for a century, the diminutive numbat returns to the wild
An ambitious plan to boost the populations of 10 threatened marsupial species has taken another step with the release of numbats to a national park in far south-western NSW.
Liddell extension ‘one of the lowest ranked’ options, government modelling says
Government commissioned modelling shows extending the life of Liddell as one of the worst options for ensuring cheap and reliable power in NSW.
ACT
Canberra’s community-owned solar farm to be completed in January
A community-owned Canberra solar farm is set to be powered up next month, with construction set to be completed early in the new year.
Queensland
Mining company Adani fined by Federal Environment Department
Mining company Adani pays a $26,000 fine for “misinterpreting” environmental approval conditions at its Carmichael coal mine in central Queensland.
Review ordered into bushfire razing ‘beloved’ Fraser Island
The Queensland Government orders a full review of a bushfire that’s burned through tens of thousands of hectares of the World Heritage-listed Fraser Island, as the public tries to help find the culprits who lit the campfire that sparked the emergency.
Frydenberg proposed delisting wetland to allow Queensland’s Toondah Harbour development
Letter obtained under FoI shows Frydenberg wanted to change Ramsar protections but maintain ‘ecological character’
South-east Queensland public transport fares to be frozen in 2021
Public transport fares will be frozen next year, meaning commuters will not have to pay any extra for the bus, train or CityCat services, and it is all due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sussan Ley denies onus of reports sped up clearing knockback [$]
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley was ordered by a court to provide daily written reports on the status of a long-pending environmental approval to clear 2000ha of woodland on a Cape York cattle station, five days before she made a decision.
Temperature’s rising, but have we got the strength to flatten one more curve?
Rebecca Levingston
Global issues have left everyone a little hot under the collar this year but with Fraser Island on fire and another mass coral bleaching forecast for the Greater Barrier Reef, we can’t afford to forget about the impacts of climate change.
Jon C. Day and Scott F. Heron
The Great Barrier Reef is now in “critical” condition and the health of four other Australian World Heritage properties has worsened, according to a sobering report just released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Tasmania
Activists hope a court case will end all native forest logging. Here’s what you need to know
In a case that could rival the Franklin River Dam campaign, a court is asked to rule on whether Tasmania’s forest agreement is invalid, potentially placing all native logging across Australia under a cloud.
Cripps Nubake to remove micro-plastic tags [$]
Cripps Nubake is set to become the first large scale bakery in Australia to remove micro-plastic tags from their bread product range from December 7, replacing them with a recyclable cardboard option.
‘Heading towards extinction’: ANU swift parrot genetic study predicts population fewer than 300
A study of swift parrot genetics combined with research on sugar gliding predation and habitat limitation has found their population could be fewer than 300, with urgent conservation efforts encouraged.
Tas spring 6th warmest on record
The Bureau of Meteorology reports that days and night where very much warmer than average across Tasmania this spring.
Northern Territory
Anger at decision to ban hiking on Mt Gillen [$]
Hiking enthusiasts have called the ban on hiking to the top of Mt Gillen “another nail in the coffin of tourism in Central Australia”.
The Northern Territory needs to be hungry for new investment, to make the most of the minerals sector’s potential to support growth, jobs and economic development.
Western Australia
Nuclear fusion edges closer to reality with Curtin University research
Researchers from Western Australia develop database of electron-molecule reactions seen as major step forward in making fusion power a reality.
Sustainability
The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index 2020
The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index is based in 127 quantitative (not quantitative!) indicators across the dimension that shape a country: natural capital, resource efficiency, social capital, intellectual capital, governance performance. The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index is the most accurate reflection of country performance & development.
No-kill, lab-grown meat to go on sale for first time
Singapore’s approval of chicken cells grown in bioreactors is seen as landmark moment across industry
Wanted: UK site for prototype nuclear fusion power plant
Communities are being asked to bid to host the plant, which a state-backed project plans to build by 2040
Despite falling energy demand, governments set on increasing fossil fuel production
Top countries are projected to produce twice the limit on oil, gas and coal required to meet Paris climate agreement goals.
New Stanford study shows how pollution from wildfire smoke affects teens’ long-term health
Researchers found that effected teens were at higher risk for asthma and changes in immunity.
‘Worst work in the world’: US park rangers grapple with tide of human waste
With toilets in short supply, ordure can harm streams and wildlife. An entrepreneur has a nifty solution
Global sustainable fishing initiative agreed by 14 countries
Governments to reduce pollution in oceans and end subsidies that contribute to overfishing
International lawyers draft plan to criminalise ecosystem destruction
International lawyers are drafting plans for a legally enforceable crime of ecocide – criminalising destruction of the world’s ecosystems – that is already attracting support from European countries and island nations at risk from rising sea levels.
Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general
António Guterres lists human-inflicted wounds on natural world in stark message
‘They will die for their land’: Villagers fight to preserve untouched forest in Solomon Islands
In Solomon Islands, a small community is taking a rare stand against logging operations to save a unique piece of untouched forest home to rare animals.
US Clean Air Act saved 1.5 billion birds
The drop in pollution since the passage of the 1970 US Clean Air Act hasn’t just helped humans breathe cleaner air. It’s also benefited birds.
Climate change threatens World Heritage Sites including one in Yukon, says report
A report from an international organization that monitors global biodiversity says climate change is an immediate threat to one-third of all World Heritage Sites, including one in Canada’s North.
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