Post of the Day
Climate change could force 200 million people to move by 2050
Climate change could push more than 200 million people to leave their homes in the next three decades and create migration hotspots unless urgent action is taken to reduce global emissions and bridge the development gap, a World Bank report has found.
Today’s Celebration
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Biden delivers climate speech in visit to wildfire-devastated California
US President Joe Biden quoted poetry in a speech calling for climate action to wildfire-affected communities in California.
Getting Real: blueprint for commercially smart climate transition
Getting Real provides a blueprint for a commercially smart climate transition, distilling the vast collective insight of the world’s most experienced corporate climate action practitioners to demonstrate how ambitious climate commitments can be turned into tangible outcomes.
Four in 10 young people fear having children due to climate crisis
Global survey finds most 16-25 year olds worry a lot about the future, and many feel failed by governments
Scientists sniff for hidden methane leaks to combat global warming
Methane leaks are the focus of new efforts to slow the pace of global warming. The colourless and odourless gas is an astonishing 84 times more potent in heating our atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period.
BHP says consumer will to battle climate change not strong enough
BHP has declared the world has yet to show collective action needed to meet climate change goals and has committed to spend up to $US4 billion ($5.4 billion) by 2030 on its own operations to meet targets.
Climate change is making India’s west coast more vulnerable to cyclones
A new study found significant increases in the intensity, frequency, and duration of cyclonic storms over the Arabian Sea. Is the west coast prepared?
Climate change could force 200 million people to move by 2050
Climate change could push more than 200 million people to leave their homes in the next three decades and create migration hotspots unless urgent action is taken to reduce global emissions and bridge the development gap, a World Bank report has found.
China’s disruption of ocean carbon sinks betrays its climate commitments [$]
Andrew S Erikson and Gabriel B Collins
Vitally important ‘blue carbon’ sinks — marine ecosystems that capture and store carbon — are being threatened by China’s massive ocean expansion.
With many African climate activists unable to access vaccines, should Cop26 go ahead?
Mohamed Adow
Because of hoarding by rich countries, those in the global south on the frontline of the crisis will be excluded from the talks
Rain fell on Greenland’s ice sheet for the first time ever known. Alarms should ring
Kim Heacox
Climate scientists believe that if Greenland continues to rapidly melt, tens of millions of people around the world could face yearly flooding and displacement by 2030
Climate activists are being killed for trying to save our planet. There is a way to help
Bill McKibben
Last year, there were a record 227 killings globally. It is our duty to keep resisting the insatiable forces that led to their deaths
If you’re a coffee drinker, you really need to care about climate change
David Lazarus
Climate change is such a massive problem, with such potentially catastrophic ramifications, many people have trouble getting their heads around the danger we face. So let’s put things in simpler terms. Climate change means you’ll be paying more for coffee, every day, for possibly the rest of your life. And it may not taste as good.
National
Turtles have to contend with thousands of nets left in the sea. Now there’s a new way to help them
Abandoned fishing nets trap thousands of turtles, dolphins and sharks in Australia’s northern waters every year. Now the government is introducing a new way to track them so they can be retrieved.
Doctors push federal government on climate change targets ahead of Glasgow climate summit
Doctors urge the federal government to commit to stronger climate change targets ahead of next month’s global climate summit in Glasgow, warning the health of Australians is being put at risk.
Federal Court judge orders minister to explain ‘sudden’ $21m Beetaloo Basin fracking grant agreement
A Federal Court judge says he is “concerned” by Federal Resources and Water Minister Keith Pitt’s handling of a $21 million grant agreement with a gas company eyeing the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
Battery discovery could propel EVs from Sydney to Melbourne on one charge
Australian researchers say they’ve opened the path to a new generation of batteries that could allow an electric vehicle to drive from Melbourne to Sydney on a single charge.
Joe Biden to talk climate change with Scott Morrison at upcoming White House meeting
Analysts say action on climate change could present as a potential point of friction during the meeting.
Morrison to face climate change questions at Quad meeting [$]
Scott Morrison will head to the US next week for the first face-to-face meeting of Quad leaders, with the “climate crisis” on the agenda alongside China.
Agricultural sector could be net zero by 2040 if Australia boosts efforts, report suggests
Regions ‘disproportionately affected’ by climate risk but enhancing current emissions reduction programs would help, Ernst & Young analysis shows
National energy audit challenges Morrison government claim Australia doing more to combat the climate crisis than other nations
Australia a ‘laggard’ as coal projects collapse worldwide
The pipeline of planned new coal power stations is rapidly drying up, even as Australia sees a rich market for its exports.
BHP sets ‘net-zero’ goal for suppliers as climate scrutiny grows
Australia’s biggest miner has taken another step in the push to slash emissions across its global value chain, with new goals targeting suppliers and shippers.
BlackRock chairman and CEO Larry Fink speaks with the persuasiveness of a $US10 trillion ($13.6 trillion) investment platform when he says the climate transition is an “historic” money-making opportunity.
Australian farmers could reach net zero by 2040, says new report [$]
Australia’s agriculture sector could commit to reaching net zero by 2040 without industry shrinkage, a new economic report has revealed.
Pressure on Scott Morrison’s emissions plan
Australia must strengthen its climate agenda to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, with pressure building for Scott Morrison’s long-term emissions reduction strategy to outline “co-ordinated, ambitious and stable climate change policy”.
Rising to the challenge: addressing climate and security in our region
Climate Council
Security at its most basic level is about freedom from harm or freedom from fear of harm. In the face of security risks or challenges, governments must prioritise investment to mitigate harm.
Australian Forest Products Association media release
As another winter forestry planting season draws to a close, it’s worth considering the great work our forestry planters do getting seedlings in the ground that will grow to become the Aussie houses of tomorrow.
2021 Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release: have your say
Australian Government media release
We are seeking your feedback on areas industry has nominated for inclusion in the 2021 Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage Acreage Release.
$7 million for recycling in regional and remote Australia
Sussan Ley and Trevor Evans
The Morrison Government has announced $7 million for recycling in regional and remote Australia as it continues to create jobs and help our environment by turbocharging Australia’s waste and recycling industry.
Greg Jericho
The latest OECD economic survey of Australia will be uncomfortable reading for the prime minister
Australia must follow its allies and connect the dots between climate and security risks
Cheryl Durrant
Climate change increases the risk of conflict and Australia will not find lasting national security without adequately addressing it.
Doctors and farmers turn up heat on Morrison ahead of Glasgow
Michelle Grattan
Multiple doctors’ organisations, led by the Australian Medical Association, and a major farm lobby have called on the federal government to boost Australia’s climate change ambition, as pressure mounts on Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce to finalise a deal ahead of the Glasgow conference.
Outflanked on renewables by the NSW Coalition, time is right for Fitzgibbon to go [$]
Bernard Keane
Joel Fitzgibbon hailed from a very different Hunter region from what it is now, but he’s been left behind even by the other side of politics on fossil fuels.
Too slow, too expensive: Why nuclear power makes no sense for Australia
Josh Burns
Nuclear makes no sense economically and it makes no sense because we have better, cheaper and more viable energy alternatives right now.
“Unforgivable:” Australia’s emissions cuts from grid slower than other major economies
Giles Parkinson
Despite Australia’s rapid deployment of wind and solar, it still trails other major economies in the scale of emissions reductions from the grid.
Baseload coal is rapidly losing value, and is biggest risk to Australian utilities
Marija Petkovic
Coal will struggle to remain economically viable beyond 2030. Companies with a heavy exposure, like AGL, need to act quickly to survive.
Victoria
Bandicoots back from the brink as status downgraded to endangered
Eastern barred bandicoots are the first Australian species that was considered extinct in the wild to be successfully reintroduced and have its conservation status downgraded.
New South Wales
‘Walk away’: Bylong coal mine appeal rejected
Proponents of a controversial coal mine planned for a rich farming area north-west of Sydney have had their appeal against an earlier rejection dismissed by the courts, raising the prospect the project will be scrapped.
Kean may be making the running on wildlife issues but he has a long way to go
SMH editorial
The Berejiklian government has made some impressive advances on the environment front but a close look at recent decisions shows why little can be taken for granted.
Queensland
Planning and Development Committee recommends supporting SE Qld Koala Conservation Strategy
Toowoomba Regional Council’s (TRC) Planning and Development Committee today (September 14, 2021) recommended supporting the Phase 1 Implementation Plan (2020-2022) of the South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2020-2025.
Combined approach for waste solutions
Logan City Council has joined two other South East Queensland councils in a bid for funding to help the business case for a new local recycling and waste recovery facility.
Collective action driving environmental sustainability
Want to know what Rockhampton Regional Council is doing to create a more sustainable future for the Rockhampton Region? The Environmental Sustainability Strategy Year in Review Report (financial year 2020-21) has just been endorsed, outlining some significant outcomes for our Region.
BMA banks on coal for 30 more years with plans to expand mine
BHP’s coal joint venture has applied to expand its $3.4 billion Caval Ridge mine in central Queensland taking its production life into the 2050s.
Final Brisbane Metro vehicle design revealed ahead of 2022 pilot launch
After virtual reality and life-size timber model testing, accessibility and charging facilities tweaks on the flagship Brisbane City Council project have been finalised with designer HESS.
South Australia
Rare raptors hatch but others fall prey to a fox in overnight raid
Cameras show the vagaries of life for rare osprey chicks with two hatching successfully while two others are snatched by a fox.
Tasmania
Bob Brown Foundation lashes Venture Minerals’ ‘greenwash’
A company’s claim it wants a new West Coast mine to be carbon dioxide emissions neutral is amateurish greenwash, the environmentalist Bob Brown Foundation says.
Second gas company to begin seismic tests in Bass Strait [$]
Bass Strait has become a popular hunting ground for oil and gas companies looking for new reserves. But major concerns remain over what seismic testing might do to marine wildlife.
Western Australia
In the past decade cane toads have marched across most of the Kimberley, so protecting animals on island sanctuaries is now a key priority.
Traditional owners split over proposed mine excavation around sacred Indigenous site
The fallout over the destruction of Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge rock shelters is being felt at another mine in Queensland, where a group of Indigenous elders is trying to stop the proposed excavation around a sacred site.
WA marine lab to examine reef impacts
Already a world heritage-listed sanctuary for visitors and marine life, Western Australia’s spectacular Ningaloo Reef will be the backdrop for research aimed at protecting the ocean from the ravages of climate change.
Sustainability
Greenpeace celebrates 50 years of fearless defence of planet
The iconic global environmental organisation Greenpeacetoday celebrates its fiftieth year of fighting for a greener, fairer and more peaceful world.
90% of global farm subsidies damage people and planet, says UN
Almost half a trillion dollars of support a year harms people’s health, the climate and drives inequality
Most plans for new coal plants scrapped since Paris agreement
Report by climate groups found more than three-quarters of projects were discarded after the deal was signed
Environmental pollution law receives boost to tackle climate change
Efforts by Singapore to tackle climate change and noise pollution will get more teeth, with changes to a law governing environmental pollution passed in Parliament this week.
Major California battery outage highlights energy storage risks
A massive U.S. battery storage project is offline in California, stoking reliability and safety questions about a technology that will be crucial to meeting future clean electricity goals.
Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds
Production of meat worldwide causes twice the pollution of production of plant-based foods, a major new study has found
Nature Conservation
Wild ‘de-extinction’ plan aims to bring woolly mammoths back to life
A genetics company secures funding to create an “elephant-mammoth hybrid”, saying its technology has the potential to bring back ancient extinct species and restore damaged or lost ecosystems.
Outcry over killing of almost 1,500 dolphins on Faroe Islands
Many Faroese horrified by what Sea Shepherd group claims was largest such massacre in the islands’ history
Leaked EU anti-deforestation law omits fragile grasslands and wetlands
Campaigners say draft regulation contains many loopholes, including exclusion of Cerrado and Pantanal
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