Date: 14 August 2021 at 8:56:28 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Aug 14
Post of the Day
Greenhouse gas emissions must peak within 4 years, says leaked UN report
Global greenhouse gas emissions must peak in the next four years, coal and gas-fired power plants must close in the next decade and lifestyle and behavioural changes will be needed to avoid climate breakdown, according to the leaked draft of a report from the world’s leading authority on climate science.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
CCS ‘hubs’: Climate fix or boon for fossil fuels?
The infrastructure package that passed the Senate this week included funding for a concept also being pushed by Biden officials like White House adviser Gina McCarthy: carbon capture “hubs.” But would they really slash emissions from the energy sector?
Cutting methane is the best way to avoid disaster
Although climate change discussions focus mostly on carbon dioxide – the most important greenhouse gas by far – one of the big takeaways from the IPCC report is that to have any hope of staying below 1.5°C of heating we urgently need to cut methane emissions.
Since Paris was signed, Canadian banks have funded climate chaos to the tune of $700B
Canadian banks have financed oil, gas, and coal companies to the tune of nearly $700 billion since the Paris Agreement was signed, and could be more at risk than they’re letting on.
IPCC report: How UN climate scientists revolutionized extreme weather attribution
From heat waves to deadly floods, scientists can now calculate how much humans have made disasters worse.
Analysis: Debt in a warm climate: coronavirus and carbon set scene for default
Where COVID-19 has precipitated unprecedented debts, climate change could trigger defaults across a planet which a United Nations panel says is dangerously close to runaway warming.
Climate change is making people think twice about having children
A growing number of people are reluctant to bring a child into a world that’s set to be ravaged by climate change in the coming decades.
Greenhouse gas emissions must peak within 4 years, says leaked UN report
Global greenhouse gas emissions must peak in the next four years, coal and gas-fired power plants must close in the next decade and lifestyle and behavioural changes will be needed to avoid climate breakdown, according to the leaked draft of a report from the world’s leading authority on climate science.
Feedbacks and tipping points: Big uncertainties about future warming
Climate feedback cycles are physical processes that can speed up certain consequences of global warming. And scientists believe there may be tipping points hidden within the climate system as well — thresholds that, once crossed, could lead to rapid and potentially irreversible consequences for the world.
Zurich Insurance boss wants carbon tax to punish polluters
Zurich Insurance Chief Executive Mario Greco wants governments to levy a carbon tax and remove the incentive for socially irresponsible companies to maximise profits by polluting the environment.
July was world’s hottest month ever recorded, US scientists confirm
Global land and ocean surface temperature last month was 0.9C hotter than 20th-century average, beating July 2016 record
Developers in drive for carbon-neutrality
Major developers are now challenging themselves more than ever before to become the champions of change in sustainability.
By pushing for more oil production, the US is killing its climate pledges
Adam Tooze
If Joe Biden is serious about tackling the climate crisis he must use his country’s leverage to curb fossil fuels, not boost them.
The U.N. Climate Panel tries to cut through the smog
Bill McKibben
Our social world is as polluted as our physical one—can we still see what we must?
Carbon dreaming: how to fix the climate crisis
Nick O’Malley and Peter Hannam
The outlook for global warming is dire but with bold ideas and committed effort, the worst can still be avoided.
Climate change is actually saving lives [$]
Bjorn Lomborg
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just released its latest climate report and reactions from politicians and media pundits could not have been more predictable.
IPCC climate report author: our final plea to the world [$]
Joëlle Gergis
For the first time, the IPCC has been able to emphatically conclude that human influence is responsible for almost all global warming experienced since pre-industrial times. All model scenarios show a breach of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree Celsius target in the early 2030s.
IPCC you [$]
Sami Shah
It seems there’s very little that humanity cannot achieve when we put our mind to it. In the past 100 years we’ve landed on the moon, created a global information superhighway, and crossbred poodles with every animal we could get our hands on. Our greatest achievement yet, however, may be the dedication we have shown to destroying our planet.
2040, somewhere in the Antarctic – cartoon
Jon Kudelka
National
Scathing Senate report details mismanagement of ‘nation building’ rail project
Inland Rail is Australia’s biggest freight rail project, but a Senate inquiry has uncovered serious failures in the consultation process and management of the multi-billion-dollar rail line.
Wind and solar projects take “material hit” from ESB and Morrison
New investment in large scale wind and solar projects has come to a virtual halt in Australia, thanks to the ESB and unhelpful interventions from the federal government.
AGL’s record loss supercharges the end of coal in Australia, experts say
Energy giant AGL’s record loss has supercharged the end of coal in Australia and called into question the Morrison government’s commitment to expanding gas.
The Coalition promised to release a long-term plan before the Glasgow climate talks – and that’s just 80 days away
‘Is it too late?’: a retrospective on Australia’s climate crisis by Stephen Dupont – in pictures
As the northern hemisphere is inundated with natural disasters, photographer Stephen Dupont looks back on Australia’s own changing climate.
Will IPCC overcome Morrison’s prosperity doctrine? – Energy Insiders podcast
IPCC report falls on deaf ears in Canberra, as AGL scrambles to adapt. We talk to IPCC contributor Martina Linnenluecke.
Keith Pitt on Australia’s energy ambitions – Australian politics podcast
Katharine Murphy speaks with the federal resources minister, Keith Pitt, about the government’s gas-fired recovery plan, the export of energy resources and Australia’s record on climate action
How investors plan to punish climate laggards [$]
Aware Super will strip its substantial capital from companies failing to address climate change and redeploy its near $150 billion of managed assets elsewhere.
Libs ‘must raise their sights on climate’: Falinski [$]
Liberal MP Jason Falinski has urged Scott Morrison to officially update the government’s 2030 emissions reduction target ahead of the next election, in a move that would increase the Coalition’s commitment set by Tony Abbott in 2015.
Solar export tax: An unhelpful “solution” to a problem that’s already been solved
Gabrielle Kuiper
Distribution networks finally given responsibility for supporting household solar exports, but they shouldn’t be charging for them.
Scott Morrison will weaponise climate crisis in pursuit of re-election
Dennis Atkins
Morrison looks to be betting on black – as in coal and fossil fuels – while saying he kinda likes pink, too. Every utterance he makes about climate policy is coded, calculated and cooked.
The great ‘known unknowns’ with climate change in the law
Andrew Pitman and Katrin Meissner
To first understand how climate change impacts the law, it’s prudent to understand its fundamental principles.
The cunning in Barnaby Joyce’s climate shuffle
Peter Hartcher
Barnaby the obscurantist denialist is now Barnaby the negotiator. He wants a deal for his constituents that helps soften the burden of climate change action – and the ball is in Scott Morrison’s court before he faces global leaders in November.
PM can’t see the emissions truth for the trees
Ross Gittins
Our PM is using a reduction in emissions from land clearing and logging to make our numbers look better than they are.
Here’s what we know: every tonne of CO2 is harming us
Ketan Joshi
Australia isn’t going to act on climate until every tonne truly counts.
Extinction Rebellion’s anarchy serving no-one but themselves [$]
Vikki Campion
If you believe no carbon is good carbon, why would you burn a pram in protest and create the carbon you object to.
Bellowin’ Barnaby Joyce back on the rails, roaring to go [$]
Greg Bearup
And he’s got a few problems. From the conception to construction of the $15bn Inland Rail – one of Australia’s largest-ever infrastructure projects – the Nationals have been pretty much in charge of the entire show.
Climate change making fires a bigger threat
Eleanor Beidatsch
The effects of climate change have increased the danger of fires in Australia, with a need for strategies to avoid another Black Summer.
3 ways community gardens often exclude migrants and refugees — and how to turn this around
Bethaney Turner
With millions of Australians enduring lockdown yet again, you may be seeking solace in gardening. For migrants and refugees in Australia, gardening can be particularly meaningful when shared in community spaces.
Saturday Paper editorial
The argument from the coal lobby is simple. It says that burning Australian coal helps lower carbon emissions. Burning Australian coal is good for the planet.
Victoria
SPC boss Hussein Rifai outlines four-step action plan to slash waste, gas
The first Aussie company to mandate the Covid-19 jab also has big ambitions in trying to stop increases in global warming.
Council drives possums out of park, installs holographic possum projection
The City of Melbourne embarked on a three-year campaign to drive possums out of a Carlton park, before commissioning an artist to create a holographic projection of a ghostly possum in one of the remaining trees.
Golf range dispute highlights fight for Melbourne’s green wedges
A golf driving range to be built at a former hobby farm on the Mornington Peninsula has become the latest flashpoint in the fierce debate about the protection of farmland and the natural environment on Melbourne’s outskirts.
New South Wales
Unpacking the case that could lead to more climate change-influenced litigation
A climate action advocacy group took on the NSW Environment Protection Authority in court this week, in a landmark case allowing evidence on climate change to be heard.
Whitehaven slapped with $372,500 in fines for breaches of licence
The company was convicted for 19 breaches at its Maules Creek coal mine in northern NSW, although the fines fell far short of the maximum penalties it faced.
Solar tax counts cost of panels, but who will pay for Snowy 2.0?
Bruce Mountain
Snowy Hydro will impose a massive additional cost on NSW customers, but solar panels on household roofs, which bring prices down for all of us, are the focus of massive reform.
‘Call to honesty’: NSW committee calls for coordinated exit from coal
Peter Hannam
NSW won’t make an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy without a coordinated effort to get communities off fossil fuels, diversify the economy, and cut the amount of energy wasted in homes and businesses.
ACT
ANU backs prominent forest scientist after ‘unfair’ media treatment
Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt has backed high-profile forest scientist David Lindenmayer after the Press Council found his treatment by News Corp was “unfair and misleading”.
Queensland
Still green but less grand: Planned South Brisbane apartment tower shrinks
Development group Aria has dramatically cut the planned height of its controversial “world’s greenest residential building” in South Brisbane in a bid to win council approval for the project.
Traditional owners get a deal over South Walker coal mine
BHP’s central Queensland South Walker coal mine joint venture has struck an “intergenerational agreement’’ with the Barada Barna people that will support the continued operation of the mine.
Covid drives huge demand for National Park camping [$]
The impact of COVID-19 on our international borders means many more Queenslanders are rekindling their love for the state’s forests, waterways and beaches.
South Australia
Cheap power, free public transport – and big taxes in Greens pitch [$]
Almost $7bn of taxes hitting banks, miners and developers would fund a radical agenda as part of an SA Greens election pitch.
Extinction Rebellion protesters arrested [$]
Two protesters were charged after entering an office at the Gouger St NAB branch on Friday afternoon.
Tasmania
Big fish: Behind Andrew Forrest’s bold play for Tasmanian salmon producer
Not everyone in Tasmania is on board with the mining magnate’s bid to thwart a $500 million takeover of Tasmanian salmon producer Huon on environmental grounds.
Riding the river is the future
Alan Whykes
On Monday this week, a fast transport service began operating in Hobart the city’s free, perpetually ungridlocked superhighway.
Tassie’s salmon wars: Twiggy looms as saviour [$]
Charles Wooley
I don’t want to jinx the deal but perhaps Dr Forrest and his Australian company Tattarang do appear the best opportunity we have of ending Tasmania’s salmon wars.
Sustainability
The increasing global environmental consequences of a weakening US–China crop trade relationship
The consideration of tariffs on China’s imports of US agricultural products has focused on economic impacts, while the environmental consequences have received less attention.
How artificial intelligence can help save us from air pollution
As air quality plummets across the U.S. this summer, researchers have a glimmer of good news.
‘Got to be reasonably priced’: Plant-based meat products nearing tipping point
Emerging plant-based meat producer Fable says the sector is close to reaching a tipping point where it can compete on price with animal-based products.
Shell to pay $111 million for 1970 Niger Delta oil spills
The energy giant has agreed to compensate communities in the oil-producing Ogoniland part of Nigeria for the pollution. Shell still denies responsibility but the people who took the company to court feel vindicated.
80% clean power by 2030: Achievable with massive benefits
Rigorous analysis shows that reaching an 80 percent clean electricity sector by 2030 is achievable and will drive enormous climate, public health, and economic and job creation benefits that far exceed the investment cost.
We need to stop flushing opportunity down the toilet
Ruby Craven
New technology that can convert human urine into fertiliser onsite could enable an expansion of urban farming and eventually provide a sustainable resource for agriculture
Here’s how ‘blue carbon’ could be even better than rainforests at helping to save the planet
South Australia’s largest project to trap carbon through coastal wetland recovery is underway, but what is blue carbon, how does it work, and how can wetlands be insured?
‘It’s outrageous’: Trinidadian fishers film ‘half-hearted’ oil spill clean-up
Hundreds of spills off Gulf of Paria having ‘dire’ impact on local fishing in one of the most biodiverse areas of Trinidad and Tobago
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