Post of the Day
World running out of time to tackle climate crisis: UN
2021 must be the year of action for protecting people against the ‘disastrous’ effects of climate change, the United Nations said ahead of a crucial US-convened summit.
Yesterday’s Post of the Day about criminalisation of environmental protests was removed from the Guardian website for some reason. Here is an alternative link:
On This Day
Rama Navami – Hinduism
Ecological observance
National Tree Planting Day – Kenya
World Creativity and Innovation Day
Climate Change
Climate explained: what was the Medieval warm period?
During the European Middle Ages, parts of the world experienced warming similar to that between 1960 to 1990. But the rising temperatures we’re observing now are global and exceed the past record.
World running out of time to tackle climate crisis: UN
2021 must be the year of action for protecting people against the ‘disastrous’ effects of climate change, the United Nations said ahead of a crucial US-convened summit.
UK aims for 78 per cent emissions cut in 14 years
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will this week commit Britain to cutting carbon emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, almost 15 years earlier than planned, in one of the most ambitious environmental targets set out by a developed nation.
Climate anxiety and PTSD are on the rise. Therapists don’t always know how to cope
Many psychologists say they feel unequipped to handle a growing number of patients despairing over the state of the planet. A new contingent of mental health professionals aims to fix that
Carbon emissions to soar in 2021 by second highest rate in history
Global economies forecast to pour stimulus money into fossil fuels as part of Covid recovery
An analysis of subnational net zero targets & recommendations for Federal Government
A new Oxford Net Zero report demonstrates that for the first time, a majority of Americans live in a jurisdiction with a net zero emissions target. Furthermore, US companies accounting for at least $5.2 trillion in yearly sales have committed to net zero. But scaling up climate federalism to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement will require coordinated leadership from Washington, DC.
The world’s richest people are trying to save the planet
Whether driven by megalomania, legacy-building, or purer motives, the world’s richest people are committing serious cash to one of humanity’s biggest challenges: tackling climate change.
Ignore the rhetoric: the UK government still fails to grasp the climate crisis
Chris Venables
Boris Johnson needs a coherent approach to meeting green targets that goes beyond Cop26
US to pledge new target but few followers ahead of Glasgow [$]
Graham Lloyd
Forget net-zero by 2050 the new climate mantra is set to become halfway by 2030.
National
New report confirms toxicity of coal-fired power stations
Despite the drop in electricity generation from some coal-fired power stations, a five-year audit by the Environmental Justice Alliance (EJA) of the National Pollution Inventory (NPI) has found little overall change in the amount of toxic emissions.
Albanese promises “clean energy jobs revolution” in rebuke of Morrison cafe jibe
Albanese says the opportunities created through action on climate change would have a wide-reaching benefit for the Australian economy.
Solar and wind are leading fastest energy transition the world has seen
The latest IRENA data shows that Australia is in the number two spot of new renewables per person and number one spot for installed solar PV.
Transport and mining are growing climate problems for Australian states: new data
New emissions data show that the mining industry and transport sectors are pushing up emissions across states, even as renewables drive them down.
Federal government to spend $539 million on ‘clean’ energy projects
The federal government vows to spend an extra $539.2 million on new “clean” energy projects but the question remains, will they reduce emissions?
Toyota Australia confirms first battery electric car
Best known for its sooty SUVs, Australia’s dominant new vehicle brand Toyota is joining the rush to zero-emissions electric vehicles.
Morrison accused of ‘fundamental betrayal’ on climate over wine bars jibe
Scott Morrison’s latest flirtation with a net zero emissions target has been described as a “fundamental betrayal” of Australians, with Labor taking offence at the Prime Minister engaging in what it claims is “identity politics”.
‘Very juvenile’: Farmers slam PM for suggesting they don’t care about climate change
Farmers who have struggled through drought and floods have slammed Prime Minister Scott Morrison for pitting them against “inner-city lefties” and suggesting they don’t care about climate change.
Stanwell, which is Queensland’s largest power generator, says ‘energy market is shifting from fossil fuel generation’ at a ‘rapid pace’
‘Disaster alley’: New threats Australia faces
Australia is threatened by new and growing security threats in its own backyard but is doing little to combat them, former Defence chiefs have warned.
Explainer: What does US president Joe Biden’s climate summit mean for Australia?
While many of us are tucked up in bed on Thursday and Friday night, world leaders will be meeting for what could mark a major turning point in the global fight against climate change.
The Australia Institute
Why the Gas-fired Recovery plan will fail to reduce energy prices or create jobs but will increase emissions
Government admits coal = catastrophic climate change, but no legal duty to stop mines [$]
Bernard Keane
The Coalition admits fossil fuels cause disastrous climate change but argues it has no legal responsibility to stop the expansion of coalmines.
ScoMo and champagne-quaffing elites slam inner-city wine bar elites over climate [$]
Bernard Keane
As the Business Council and the Morrison government celebrated another year of climate inaction, the world is leaving Australia behind.
City climate leadership a model for sustainability
Amelia Leavesley et al
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals give us a global blueprint, but our cities have a key role to play in transformative change
Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull
Two former prime ministers, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, write the world shouldn’t give up hope on Australia just yet
Politicising action on climate has to stop
Letters
Age readers have their say on the federal government’s response to climate change.
Crowded cities need green grass, not plastic turf
Duncan Fine
People are fighting back against the seemingly unstoppable rise of synthetic grass fields across our cities.
Australia must learn the lessons of this pandemic when it comes to climate change
John Blackburn
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed a global lack of resilience as a result of a collective failure to assess and act on national risks and vulnerabilities in the face of a rapidly changing world. The pandemic has also exposed both unrealistic social expectations and political leadership shortfalls in coming to grips with the crisis, as opposed to managing prosperity.
National unity on climate action is vital
Canberra Times editorial
Last year, as the coronavirus pandemic was hitting its straps, the Prime Minister stared down the barrel of the camera and told Australians: “We’re all in this together.”
Biden climate summit a step on the way to Glasgow [$]
Australian editorial
Scott Morrison has shifted the needle on the climate debate, bringing Labor to the centre and allowing the government to talk up its record of action while pledging fidelity to the regions and workers in high-emissions industries.
Morrison picks a climate change fight he didn’t need to have [$]
Jennifer Hewett
The Prime Minister’s tone has been off-key for a range of audiences beyond inner-city cafes. He needs to read the national room better.
Two leaders, two speeches, same target audience [$]
Phillip Coorey
Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are targeting the workers who need to be assured tackling climate change will be good for them as well as the planet.
A carbon target would be a boost for the bush [$]
Craig Emerson
If the PM refuses to commit to net zero by 2050, it’s not inner city types who will miss out but Australian farmers denied the carbon storage business opportunities of the lower-emissions global economy.
Morrison is well behind in the climate game [$]
Chanticleer
As the Prime Minister heads to US President Joe Biden’s summit on climate change this week, he lacks credibility on carbon reductions.
Australians to pay for failed national energy policy [$]
Paul Budde
Just like the disastrous NBN debacle, the cost of the Coalition Government’s failed energy policies will be borne by renewable energy users.
We need to change our ways to avoid grim future
Susanne Farrington
Earth Day is here again, and this time around, more and more people are realizing its significance. We see that if we don’t correct our ways, the future will be a grim existence of severe weather events, rising sea levels, wildfires, air pollution and uncontrolled garbage.
Victoria
Gippsland Basin still delivering for east coast gas market
Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt has welcomed news from Esso Australia and its Gippsland Basin Joint Venture Partner that one of the largest domestic gas projects of the past decade is delivering more gas for the east coast domestic market.
Wind farm builder donates to Victorian Labor Party as $2b project awaits green light
Two companies awaiting state approval to build Australia’s biggest wind farm donated money to the Victorian Labor Party last month, following years of court battles and lobbying the state to sign off on its $2 billion, 17,000-hectare project.
Dump clean-up to cost taxpayers $48 million after owners abandon their sites
The state government has been forced to stump up $48 million in special funding to the Environment Protection Authority to clean up two of Victoria’s worst toxic waste sites.
Mandy Nicholson’s family had its connections to culture suppressed by colonisation. Now the Wurundjeri woman is part of a growing movement bringing back the traditional art of caring for country with fire.
PM unveils plan to slash emissions [$]
Scott Morrison has announced his plan to slash emissions — and Victoria is set to play a key part in the clean energy revolution.
New South Wales
Floodwaters pulse towards the Menindee Lakes
Water from systems that brought flooding rains to eastern Australia are making their way down the country’s longest river system.
NSW Nationals form secretive pro-nuclear power advocacy [$]
The NSW Nationals have been running a secret, pro-nuclear party aiming to legalise and promote nuclear power in Australia, and to attack its political rivals.
‘I couldn’t breathe’: Dust from mine dam collapse taking a toll on graziers
Three years after its tailings dam wall collapsed, the second-largest gold producer in the world is still struggling to contain the fallout.
Hydrogen power plant in South Australian would already be profitable, analysts say
A proposed hydrogen fuelled power station in South Australia would have generated millions in profits, analysts say.
Tasmania
Bell Bay could be one of four regional hydrogen hubs: PM
Bell Bay has been earmarked as a potential site for a regional hydrogen hub under a new initiative by the federal government.
Native logging would end, and Forestry Tasmania repurposed under Green plan
The Greens new forest policy would end native logging in Tasmania’s forests, and Forestry Tasmania would be repurposed to make the state a world leader in biodiversity protection and carbon storage.
$6.8M boost to ‘future proof’ Tassie tourism gem
Maria Island will receive $6.8 million in funding for improved tourist facilities if the Liberals retain power at the May 1 state election, Peter Gutwein says.
Northern Territory
‘The development of these resources is crucial’: Empire steps on gas in Beetaloo
Beetaloo Basin gas explorer Empire Energy Group, has strengthened its position as a serious player in the Territory’s emerging on shore gas industry.
ClearVue completes world’s first solar glass greenhouse in Perth
ClearVue Technologies launches “world-first” solar greenhouse, to demonstrate both its integrated PV tech and its potential to advance agricultural research.
Dreamings turned into benchtops: Traditional owners’ sadness as granite miner escapes prosecution
The inspiration for a Dreamings artwork projected onto Sydney Opera House — a sacred place in the Kimberley — was damaged by a granite-mining company in 2019. But it won’t face prosecution.
Robot submarine accidentally rediscovers lost species of sea snake in ‘twilight zone’
A critically endangered sea snake not seen on a reef off Western Australia for 23 years has been found in 67 metres of water by a robotic research vessel.
Big miners tackle big carbon budgets
Fortescue Metals Group, the iron ore miner that emits 2 million tonnes of carbon per year, has announced it will go carbon neutral in nine years’ time, well before the world’s biggest carbon-emitting economies are planning.
Huge solid sails could cut fossil fuel use by 30 per cent for shipping industry
UK and Norwegian companies to build first huge “solid sails” that could slash fossil fuel consumption in the shipping industry by nearly a third.
CCS, but not as you know it: US prize targets cement’s monster emissions
Two prize-winning companies have developed technology that can inject carbon dioxide into concrete and store it there “for good”.
Beetles that pee themselves to death could be tomorrow’s pest control
Various beetle species have gobbled through grain stores and weakened food production worldwide since ancient times. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered a better way of targeting and eliminating these teeny pests
Could your house’s solar panels be linked to forced labour in Xinjiang?
China accounts for about 80 per cent of the world’s supply of solar-grade polysilicon — a key component in the production of solar cells.
Climate change threatens future of South Korea’s ‘sea women’
Climate change and environmental pollution is making life more and more difficult for South Korea’s haenyeo, or ‘sea women’.
Green stimulus plan could create 1.2m UK jobs in two years, research finds
Every job lost to Covid pandemic could be replaced in upcoming recovery years, Green New Deal UK finds
The more than 260 NGOs to sign the letter say donations so far this year have been a mere fraction of what’s required to prevent world hunger from worsening.
Secretary of state says countries investing in new coal ‘will hear from US’
Antony Blinken says Biden administration will challenge those failing to cut reliance on coal as Scott Morrison emphasises costs of action
People have shaped Earth’s ecology for at least 12,000 years, mostly sustainably
Researchers, from over a dozen institutions around the world, assessed biodiversity in relation to global land use history, revealing that the appropriation, colonization, and intensified use of lands previously managed sustainably is the main cause of the current biodiversity crisis.
Biden takes on Dems’ ‘Mission Impossible’: Revitalizing coal country
Despite deep skepticism from union allies, Democrats are determined to make their “Just Transition” away from fossil fuels work.
Swedish state-owned forest company accused of abusing Sámi rights
Sweden’s largest forest company, state-owned Sveaskog, has repeatedly ignored Sámi rights and logged old growth forest on ancestral lands vital to reindeer herding around Muonio Sámi reindeer herding district in Sweden’s north.
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