Post of the Day
We can’t stabilise the climate without carbon offsets – so how do we make them work?
Alison Reeve
Carbon offsetting has been in the news lately after a report raised concerns about the integrity of the federal government’s offsetting scheme, the emissions reduction fund.
On This Day
Freethought Day – Secularism
Ecological Observance
Arbor Day – Guam
Climate Change
Cop26: World poised for big leap forward on climate crisis, says John Kerry
Upbeat US climate envoy anticipates big announcements from key players at Glasgow talks
What is Cop26 and why does it matter? The complete guide
Everything you need to know about the Glasgow conference seeking to forge a global response to the climate emergency
Who’s who at Cop26: the leaders who hold the world’s future in their hands
Will China even come? Can the UK hosts outflank Brazil? A look at who will – and who may not – be at Glasgow climate summit
A brief history of climate science and global climate negotiations.
‘They just talk’: Prince Charles understands Thunberg’s frustrations
Britain’s Prince Charles says he shares the concerns of Greta Thunberg and other environmental activists that world leaders “just talk” about climate change and were not doing enough to prevent its catastrophic impact.
Climate action at COP26 could save millions of lives, WHO says
The World Health Organization and about three-quarters of global health care workers on Monday called on governments to step up climate action at the COP26 global climate conference, saying it could save millions of lives a year.
Some $6.8trn a year will be needed for energy transition: Citi [$]
“It’s a global challenge, it’s a systemic challenge that we face, and it’s every country, it’s every sector, it’s every one of us,” Citi’s Keith Tuffley said.
Peter Boyer
It is impossible to imagine a warming, increasingly unstable future climate without considering what is in store for today’s children and the generations to come.
Follow the money — or pay more for it [$]
Richard Holden
A greener future is going to require mobilising a different kind of green: dollars. Trillions of them, in fact.
National
‘Is that what he says?’: Prince Charles urges Scott Morrison and other leaders to attend COP26
World leaders including Joe Biden, Boris Johnson, the Queen and the Pope will be at the UN Climate Change Conference, but Mr Morrison has not yet made a decision on whether he will attend.
Bee breeders fear ‘flow-on effects’ as Australia Post delays see virgin queens arriving dead
Precious consignments of queen bees are arriving late, dead or not at all and breeders say there could be serious consequences.
Farmers demand fair go on climate targets
The Farmers Federation’s Fiona Simson is disappointed her meeting with the Nationals on climate change targets for primary producers has been delayed.
Twiggy Forrest warns on ‘bad’ climate politics
Billionaire mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest says Australia risks losing vital investment if leaders keep playing “really bad politics” with climate change.
Do you have next biosecurity bright idea?
Bright ideas are wanted as the Biosecurity Innovation Program is open for expressions of interest. Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, David Littleproud said the program was about finding new ways to create a stronger national biosecurity system.
Live climate chat: Joe Hildebrand vs Dr Alan Finkel
Dr Alan Finkel is taking your questions about climate change at 1pm AEDT on Tuesday, and will explain how a net zero world affects you.
A WWF-Australia report reveals more than 1,500 of the country’s unique ecosystems are lacking protection
‘Zero is not zero’: Energy minister qualifies emissions target
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has likened a business-led proposal to tighten emissions obligations on polluters to a “backdoor carbon tax” and says zero net emissions is not the same as producing no emissions.
More to pay no way: What Aussies will do for climate change [$]
Most Australians want the government to protect our environment but almost half say they don’t want to pay for it, a YouGov poll has found.
How hydrogen power could change Australia forever [$]
We’ve known about hydrogen for hundreds of years, but suddenly it’s being touted as the clean, green solution. This is why hydrogen is so hot right now.
Guardian Essential poll: most Australians want Morrison to set a higher emissions reduction target
As Liberals and Nationals consider strategy ahead of Cop26 talks, poll suggests nearly 70% of respondents support net zero by 2050
David Littleproud says states should compensate farmers for past emissions reductions
Federal agriculture minister wants states to ‘kick the tin’ to farmers over historical land clearing laws as Coalition negotiations on climate policy intensify
Farm campaigner rejects land clearing compo, saying government can’t afford it
A farmer who led opposition to land clearing bans rubbishes the NFF’s proposal that graziers be compensated for contributing to emissions reduction targets.
Barnaby Joyce preparing to back net zero, with conditions
The Nationals leader has cleared the way for a goal to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 in return for a better deal for regional Australia.
Scott Morrison urges Coalition unity on ‘climate, new energy’ plans [$]
Scott Morrison says the Coalition must “come together” to combat climate change and embrace a new global energy economy, pledging to protect regional communities in the transition to a net-zero emissions future.
Australia can’t ignore nuclear in race to net zero: BHP [$]
BHP says Australia has a great opportunity in uranium and nuclear power as experts said submarine policy had welded the nation to the controversial sector
Winners, losers, and the energy transition [$]
Australia is in a unique position with one of the world’s most favourable natural environments for zero-carbon wind, solar and hydro resources.
Coalition climate deal looms as Labor ups the ante on net zero [$]
A new energy economy is a matter of if, not when, says Scott Morrison, who is confident of a climate deal with the Nationals.
As Australia plots “gas-led” recovery, UK decides that gas is next fossil to go
Australia may be banking on a “gas-led recovery”, but most other major economies are looking the other way.
Hot air and slogans are masking a government falling apart
Paul Bongiorno
Scott Morrison is giving every impression he is paralysed by the fear his government is disintegrating. With three weeks to go to the Glasgow climate summit attended by more than 100 world leaders, he cannot make a decision on whether to attend or not because he is not sure if his one-seat majority government will still exist.
News Corp’s climate campaign is a political development with impact
David Crowe
Rupert Murdoch’s many critics were savage on Monday after his Australian newspapers staged a spectacular backflip and embraced the need for faster action on climate change.
Rachel Withers
News Corp gets on the net-zero bandwagon
No, the Business Council hasn’t changed its denialist ways — it just changed the rhetoric [$]
Bernard Keane
The Business Council appears to have joined the side of the angels with its call for ambitious emissions reduction targets. But look at how it proposes to get there and it’s the same fossil fuel greenwashing we’ve seen for years.
Not even the BCA or Murdoch papers can divert Taylor from his love of gas
Michael Mazengarb
The Business Council and the Murdoch media come out in support of the green transition, but they can’t sway the ideological monster they created.
Nationals under Barnaby Joyce’s leadership need to back climate goal
Canberra Times editorial
Few political spectacles have been more unedifying than Barnaby Joyce’s attempt to portray himself as an honest broker in negotiating national climate policy on Monday.
Farmers invite opprobrium with ‘Kyoto’ compensation demands
Letters
Since 2000, more than 7.2 million hectares of threatened species habitat, mainly for farming. But farmers are now looking for compensation for the land they have not cleared.
Nothing changes if we let ourselves be ruled by fear
Letters
Age readers discuss the Business Council of Australia’s call for ambitious emissions reduction targets and the government’s commitment to tackling the issue.
We can’t stabilise the climate without carbon offsets – so how do we make them work?
Alison Reeve
Carbon offsetting has been in the news lately after a report raised concerns about the integrity of the federal government’s offsetting scheme, the emissions reduction fund.
“Avoid emissions first:” Offsets needed for net zero, but they must be real
Petra Stock
The problem with carbon offsets: We will need them to reach net zero, but they must be real.
Sorry, Bob Carr, the time is ripe for nuclear [$]
Judith Sloan
Some readers will be aware that Australia came close to having a domestic nuclear reactor generating electricity in the 1950s.
While Coalition dithers on climate, world moves ahead [$]
Troy Bramston
From cabinet room to party room, boardroom and environmental lobby, Australia has been served poorly when it comes to dealing with climate change. This policy debate has been beset by wild claims and denialism, and weaponised for political purposes while our international reputation has diminished.
Five ways Australia can win from energy transition [$]
Chanticleer
Mike Cannon-Brookes wants more recognition of the opportunities in going green. Here’s a handful from Monday’s Australian Financial Review Energy Summit.
Step aside for a brave new world of energy [$]
Jennifer Hewett
The political stalemate in Canberra isn’t stopping business or state governments from accelerating their own changes in energy use in order to reduce emissions.
Australia must leverage nuclear subs for civilian energy too [$]
Alex Coram and Stephen Anthony
The country cannot let dogmatism and pessimism about our abilities get in the way of maximising the expensive naval technology we are planning to adopt.
Indigenous knowledge and the myth of ‘wilderness’
Michael-Shawn Fletcher
Aboriginal ideas of ‘wilderness’ are in contrast to romantic views of a ‘pristine’ environment. But it actively excludes Indigenous and local people from conservation
‘2050 is far too late to secure a safer future for our kids’
David Ritter
The time for excuses has passed, writes David Ritter, chief executive officer of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, who says the federal government must take decisive action to cut emissions this decade.
Small nuclear reactors, huge costs
Jim Green
Minerals Council tries to spin the virtues of nuclear power in Australia, but experience shows small nuclear reactors come with a larg price tag.
Victoria
Low-cost cat desexing now available thanks to Victorian government grant
Cardinia Shire Council, the National Desexing Network and local veterinary clinics have joined forces to offer residents in need a subsidised desexing program for cats.
Victorian manufacturing’s next frontier in Latrobe Valley [$]
The closure of Ford, Toyota and Holden has long cast a shadow over the Victorian manufacturing sector, but the global shift to a net zero economy presents huge opportunity.
Victoria Big Battery sets Australian output record as it ramps up testing
Giles Parkinson
Victoria Big Battery sets new benchmark for a battery charge and discharge as it continues to ramp up testing.
New South Wales
What NSW needs to become low carbon manufacturing juggernaut
NSW is perfectly positioned to become a global leader in low carbon heavy manufacturing, but it needs one key thing to make it happen.
The NSW government needs to stop prosecuting Aboriginal fishers if it really wants to Close the Gap
Janet Hunt
There is a contradiction between the New South Wales government’s plan for Closing the Gap and its persecution of Aboriginal people on the New South Wales south coast who want to maintain their saltwater culture.
Queensland
‘Green industrial revolution’: Queensland announces plans to mass produce green ammonia
Speaking at Incitec Pivot’s Gibson Island facility, CEO Jeanne Johns said a feasibility trial would be conducted in the state to turn green hydrogen into green ammonia, with the potential to secure 400 jobs for “decades”.
‘Critical time’: Qld’s transition to net zero
Queensland’s manufacturing sector is on the ‘precipice of a critical time’ as it faces one of the biggest challenges in the transition to a net zero economy.
Parks executive cited ‘unwarranted pressure’ in early K’gari burn halt
Details have emerged of the efforts Queensland authorities took in the early days of the blaze, eventually burning more than half the World Heritage-listed site (formerly Fraser Island).
Fortescue’s Forrest takes one small step in a nine-year hydrogen moonshot
Peter Milne
An investment in a $1bn hydrogen plant in Queensland is Fortescue’s most tangible action yet in what will be a frantic nine-year sprint into the unknown.
South Australia
‘Climate risk’: How SA miners are cutting carbon out [$]
Michelle Pole says her SA mining company OZ Minerals has a goal of mining ethically and responsibly. This is how they are doing it.
South Australians are at the forefront of a new boom [$]
Gemma Jones
While the country waits for Scott Morrison to announce the net zero target by 2050, for SA the path has been difficult but offers huge opportunities, writes
Tasmania
Mission Zero: Solar investment stacks up for young family
“Everybody in Tasmania should be doing this.” A young family has seen their yearly power bills shrink by thousands of dollars after installing a solar power system.
Shipwrecks, ammunition dumps among Marinus Link challenges
Shipwrecks and potentially live ammunition dumps could litter the intended route for the proposed new energy interconnector across Bass Strait.
Aspin Hair wins 2021 Tasmanian Sustainable Business Of The Year Award
A small business owner has been recognised as one of the state’s most sustainable businesses after being named the 2021 Tasmanian Sustainable Business Of The Year.
Pollies to pick over pokies and protest laws [$]
The Liberal government will introduce raft of major law reforms in parliament this week when it resumes after a two-week break.
Hypocrisy claim in Tasmanian native logging deal [$]
The Victorian government, which trumpets its exit from native forest logging, has been accused of hypocrisy, with the bosses of a company it part-owns buying into Tasmania’s native timber trade.
‘Gas led recovery’ could leave NT taxpayers with a $22 billion offset bill, Reputex finds
The Morrison government’s push for more fracking in the Beetaloo Basin could leave the NT government with a staggering $22 billion carbon offset bill.
Our fundamental position is that no NT worker should be left behind and no family worse off
Denise Cahill
Australia is in a unique position to benefit the most from clean energy — and now is the time to act so no Territorian is worse off.
Western Australia
‘There will be pain’, but WA Nationals back net zero carbon target
While the federal Nationals remain divided on net zero, the party’s WA branch has nailed its colours to the mast and backed a 2050 target.
Sustainability
Brutality, corruption, tax evasion detailed in undercover sting of palm oil execs
Undercover investigators illuminate dark side of the palm oil industry that is clearcutting virgin rainforests. Loss of tree cover and peatlands that help absorb greenhouse gases alarms climate scientists.
Suddenly we are in middle of a global energy crisis
Lurion de Mello
Far from emerging from the COVID shock awash with fuel, as might be expected after an economic slowdown, the world is entering a new energy crisis the like of which hasn’t been seen since the 1970s.
Train or plane? The climate crisis is forcing us to rethink all long-distance travel
Simon Jenkins
Arguments about switching from one mode of transport to another miss the point – we ought to be travelling less
The advertising industry is fuelling climate disaster, and it’s getting away with it
Andrew Simms
Overconsumption is inevitable when adverts are so ubiquitous and sophisticated. There must be a pushback
Rotting Red Sea oil tanker could leave 8m people without water
FSO Safer has been abandoned since 2017 and loss of its 1.1m barrels would destroy Yemen’s fishing stocks
Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn
Executives demand meaningful action to protect ecosystems as UN biodiversity summit opens
Biodiversity loss risks ‘ecological meltdown’ – scientists
The UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries – in the bottom 10% globally and last among the G7 group of nations, new data shows.
Want to regain young people’s trust? Start treating the earth, and life, as sacred
Norman Wirzba
Our government and business leaders are failing young people by not acting out of the conviction that this world and all its life are sacred and, thus, worthy of our protection and care.
Cop26 must not overshadow Kunming: we need joint climate and biodiversity goals
Ma Jun
Ecosystem collapse is as much a threat as the climate crisis, but valuing nature will help us meet both these challenges
—
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.