https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-news-corps-new-spin-on-climate-change-169733
Date: 19 October 2021 at 8:54:26 am AEDT
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Subject: Daily Links Oct 19
Post of the Day
How the climate crisis is transforming the meaning of ‘sustainability’
Companies have been taking a ‘sustainability-as-usual’ approach to the climate crisis—a slow and voluntary adoption of commitments—but that may soon come to an end.
On This Day
Mawlid (Birth of the Prophet) – Islam
Climate Change
New Zealand has pledged $1.2 billion in climate aid for vulnerable communities
Jacinda Ardern says her country will do its bit to support communities affected by the climate emergency.
Climate change ‘hope punk’: Hopelessness is uninformed, disempowering
Climate change hopelessness and gloom-and-doom is uninformed and disempowering, says author and educator Elin Kelsey. Focusing on solutions is the way forward.
As Jane Goodall grieves climate change, she finds hope in young people’s advocacy
The world-renowned primatologist explains how small acts to protect the planet can spiral upwards. She has a new book, co-authored by Douglas Abrams, called The Book of Hope.
The world will be asked to work together on climate. What chance that’ll happen? [$]
Richard Holden
It’s the economy, stupid. Diplomacy is all well and good, but it’s the economics of climate that’s at the heart of the world ‘coming together’.
Nuclear power back on agenda for COP26 [$]
James Kirby
An increasingly desperate search for industrial strength alternatives to coal and oil is rapidly changing the outlook for uranium.
Who’s who in Glasgow: 5 countries that could make or break the planet’s future under climate change
Matt McDonald
The climate talks in Glasgow are just days away, and may be the last chance to coordinate global efforts to stop the planet warming beyond 1.5℃ this century.
Low-carbon flights are nice. But they won’t save the planet [$]
Matt Bai
On climate change, it’s too late for baby steps.
National
Australia’s climate uncertainty a turn-off for investors: IGCC
Three global investor groups worth more than $US46 trillion ($62 trillion) have labelled Australia one of the least attractive destinations for green investment, alongside Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says his party won’t be “forced into a corner” on the government’s proposed pathway to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as the date of a global climate conference approaches.
Nat zero support for regional communities
The National Party’s ruling out of a stronger 2030 emissions target flies in the face of the interests of the party’s rural support base and the opinion of the majority of their voters, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.
Regional Liberals make case for Nationals to back net zero emissions target
Regional Liberals are urging the Nationals to back a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with some expressing frustration the junior Coalition partner is presenting itself as the sole voice of country communities.
Top green stocks that can help grow your wealth [$]
Hundreds of billions of dollars are being poured into zero-carbon, and Aussies who invest into this mega-trend will do well. See the list of the best stocks around.
Morrison says cabinet, not Nationals or Joyce, will decide net-zero plan
The federal cabinet, not the Nationals party room, will decide whether Australia adopts a net-zero emissions target, Scott Morrison says, in a rebuke to Barnaby Joyce as negotiations drag on with just days until the Glasgow climate summit.
Liberal Senator goes rogue on PM’s net zero plans [$]
Rogue Liberal Senator Alex Antic says net zero is “nothing more than a slogan” – and what do regional SA MPs think?
No change to Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target as Scott Morrison focuses on net zero deal
While the Nationals remain divided over a 2050 net zero commitment, negotiations continue about an accompanying package on regional jobs and infrastructure
Scott Morrison’s national security argument for net zero [$]
Confidential modelling underpinning Scott Morrison’s plan to meet a 2050 net-zero target shows gas, resources and agricultural exports will continue to grow and exceed current levels by mid-century, as the Liberals and Nationals edge closer to securing a deal on a Glasgow climate change package.
CEFC backs transformative farming to regenerate farms and reduce carbon
A new farming initiative backed by the CEFC will target the regeneration of underperforming farms while lowering their carbon intensity and improving sequestration. The CEFC has made a $50 million cornerstone commitment to the Transforming Farming Platform (the Platform) on behalf of the Australian Government, alongside an initial $50 million from global agricultural impact fund, the Kempen SDG Farmland Fund.
How quirky, ‘bogan’ NFT art is helping rebuild koala numbers
After watching bushfires wipe out more than 60,000 koalas, Rhys Dale decided to use his knowledge of cryptocurrency to help them recover.
Regional communities impacted by climate change will benefit from strong emission reduction targets
ACOSS urges the the Federal Government including the Nationals to get behind deeper emission cuts this decade to protect regional communities without further delay and welcomes Zali Steggall’s amendments to her private member’s Climate Change Bill to cut carbon pollution by 60% by 2030.
Norway oil giant tips millions into Australian dispatchable “solar hydro” tech
Australian concentrated solar and hydro storage technology outfit RayGen Resources claims Norwegian giant as major new investor.
R&D ready for future forestry innovation
A new $1.3 million feasibility study including targeted stakeholder consultation is looking at how best to improve research and development in the forestry sector, including the option of a National Institute for Forest Products Innovation (NIFPI).
Australia’s trash tide: researchers studied 20m pieces of beach rubbish, and found a lot of plastic
An analysis of coastal rubbish collected over a decade reveals almost half of it is local litter, but in some areas plastic is washing up from overseas
Net zero enough to lift Morrison’s global standing, says former envoy [$]
A minimalist net zero pledge will be welcomed globally, “particularly given the climate wars of the last 15 years,” says Australia’s top Paris negotiator.
Australia’s climate uncertainty a turn-off for investors: IGCC
Three global investor groups worth more than $US46 trillion ($62 trillion) have labelled Australia one of the least attractive destinations for green investment, alongside Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Taylor faces re-election test in Hume, independent challenger to be revealed soon
Angus Taylor to face re-election challenge in Hume, with a community endorsed independent candidate to be revealed next month.
Shine Awards 2021: Eco-farmer staying on the right cider climate change
Caroline Brown is at the forefront of a new generation of climate-conscious farmers, thinking carefully about what goes on to her farm as much as what it can produce.
What’s behind News Corp’s new spin on climate change?
Gabi Mocatta
Australia’s Murdoch-owned tabloid newspapers – including The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Courier Mail – have embarked on a bold new climate change campaign.
The Nationals don’t give a damn about the regions. Here’s the proof [$]
Bernard Keane
The Nats are guilty of a litany of failures in regional communities. Instead they’ve abandoned farmers and sucked up to the fossil-fuel industry.
Inside the Nats partyroom: the pollies who hold Australia’s climate policy to ransom [$]
Kishor Napier-Raman
After a four-hour party meeting, the Nationals couldn’t reach a verdict on net zero. We look at how the party splits internally on climate policy.
Australia’s rivers are ancestral beings
Alessandro Pelizzon et al
Rivers around the world are now recognised by law as legal persons and living entities. Here in Australia, our rivers can be understood as ‘ancestral beings’ under Indigenous laws
Nationals’ theatre of the absurd drains government credibility
Paul Bongiorno
The government of Australia is playing out a pantomime whose happy ending can only result in a shredding of its credibility on climate change.
Shots fired in Liberal-National climate showdown at ‘last chance saloon’
Brett Worthington
If the Glasgow climate change conference is the “last chance saloon” to save the planet, the Prime Minister’s Liberals will have to survive a shootout with his deputy to get there
Politics is often counterintuitive, and climate action is no different [$]
Phillip Coorey
Barnaby Joyce looks every bit the man who knows he has to deliver something that every sinew of his body disagrees with.
Nuclear power is too costly, too slow, so it’s zero use to Australia’s emissions plan
Greg Jericho
With a 20-year development timeline, nuclear plants won’t be built soon enough to stop temperatures rising above 2C. So why are we wasting precious time debating them?
When markets regulate the politicians [$]
Craig Emerson
Hypocritical Nationals holdouts are exposing regional Australia to risk and robbing it of opportunity in the green industries that are coming.
Federal government must come to the party on emissions reduction [$]
John Connor
There’s never a dull moment in the climate space, and in the lead up to COP26 it’s beginning to feel like Christmas.
Opportunity to play summer sport will be hindered by climate change
Ben Brown
It’s an amazing feeling winning an AFL grand final, especially after falling behind in the game – to dig deep as a team and come out on top is hard to describe.
Why I learnt to love the Queen and church in a hot minute
Jenna Price
We need some higher powers to help us if Australia is to lift its climate action targets.
Scott Morrison adopts a ‘softly, softly’ hard line on net-zero emissions [$]
Dennis Shanahan
There seems little doubt the Coalition will be committed to a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 before Scott Morrison jets off to Glasgow and yet another global climate change conference threatened with failure before it begins.
Tail wags the dog as Nats rule on climate [$]
Troy Bramston
It is utterly farcical that Australia’s climate change policy – which affects our future economy and jobs, living standards, natural environment, biosecurity and health – is being held to ransom by 21 members and senators in the Nationals.
So far, hydrogen isn’t the winner it’s cracked up to be
Judith Sloan
As much as we want it to be a clean-energy circuit-breaker, we still can’t be sure that hydrogen is anything more than a pipe dream.
Leaders’ net-zero unity inanity [$]
Greg Sheridan
Morrison and Albanese say net-zero emissions by 2050 is a national security issue. The problem is they mean opposite things. And they’re both wildly exaggerating, if not flat-out wrong.
Net-zero plan’s regional appeal [$]
Australian editorial
Much remains to be worked out on climate policy between Scott Morrison and his Nationals Coalition partners. But Australia took a historic step on Monday towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 when the Prime Minister announced he would take that target to the Glasgow climate change conference starting on October 31.
Easiest first step to net zero is to build massive amounts of solar
Giles Parkinson
Solar offers the cheapest and quickest option to cut emissions in the net 10 years. We just need to build more of it, and connect more of it.
A small step for everyone else is a big leap for the Nationals
Michelle Grattan
The Nationals appear to be inching towards accepting the net zero 2050 climate target, wrapped in a protective layer of cotton wool and of course accompanied by expensive sweeteners.
Victoria
How Victoria will lead nation’s transition to net zero [$]
Energy Minister Angus Taylor believes cutting emissions presents “very significant opportunities” for Victoria, especially in the Latrobe Valley.
New deal to turn waste timber into hydrogen at Bass Strait port
The developer of the largest clean hydrogen hub in Australia’s south-east has struck a $30 million deal for a biomass-to-hydrogen project.
New South Wales
Court rejects appeal against multi-billion-dollar Narrabri Gas Project
The NSW Land and Environment Court paves the way for work on the project, after it dismissed an appeal brought by neighbouring farmers.
A firefighter warns of a terrifying future
Peter Boyer
Nature is never far from you at Sydney’s northern edge, which is where Greg Mullins grew up. His home turf was a small suburb nearly surrounded by that scrubby woodland so characteristic of the Sydney region.
Queensland
Branching out: Queensland sawmill’s breakthrough may help ease timber shortage
A pioneering way to dry timber at Queensland’s largest sawmill near Maryborough is destined to help ease the nation’s timber shortage and give carbon emissions plenty of stick in the future.
Adani chalks up $1b spend as relations with government thaw
Bravus has cracked the $1 billion mark in spending with local companies as coal began to be stockpiled at its Carmichael mine.
Graph of the Day: Rooftop solar is eating big solar’s lunch
In Queensland, not all solar is equal, and rooftop solar is taking a big bite out of the revenue pie of large scale facilities.
South Australia
Public transport options on table as Govt eyes new Hills plan
New Park’n’Rides and an extension of passenger rail services are on the table with Infrastructure SA investigating the viability of public transport solutions for the politically-volatile Adelaide Hills region – with its recommendations expected to inform the Government’s re-election pitch.
Tasmania
Survey: What Tasmanians really think about climate change [$]
New data has revealed Tasmanians’ attitudes to climate change, amid a state government pledge to legislate net zero carbon emissions.
Northern Territory
Aussie billionaire creates world’s largest solar farm [$]
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has created the world’s largest solar farm from the Simpson Desert to Singapore. Here’s how the incredible scheme works.
NT’s salties are being made ‘scapegoats’: Top croc expert [$]
There is no solid evidence to support the hypothesis that enough NT crocodiles are migrating to Timor Leste to have a significant impact on the explosion in attacks, says researcher Dr Adam Britton
Houses and cars in flames during tensions and unrest in remote NT community of Daly River
NT Police say consultation with elders in the remote community of Daly River has calmed tensions in the region, as extra police officers are sent in.
Western Australia
Juukan Gorge inquiry says new laws needed to protect cultural sites
The inquiry has recommended new federal laws to protect cultural sites.
Mining billionaire’s plan to keep Australians in a ‘solid job’
Aussie mining tycoon Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has reassured the mums and dads on Struggle Street the nation has a greener future with more jobs.
WA farmers criticise Nationals for lack of climate commitment
A group of Western Australian farmers are leading calls for the Nationals to commit to ambitious climate targets ahead of an international summit.
Miners oppose Federal takeover of Indigenous heritage [$]
The WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy has reiterated its opposition to a Federal parliamentary committee recommendation that overarching Federal legislation is needed to protect Indigenous heritage.
Sustainability
Celebrities join Prince William for Earthshot Prize ceremony
The Earthshot Prize is an ambitious environmental program that aims to find new ideas and technologies around the world to tackle climate change.
What’s driving Norway’s electric vehicle revolution? – Please Explain podcast
Europe correspondent Bevan Shields joins Bianca Hall to discuss Norway’s clean-car evolution.
How the climate crisis is transforming the meaning of ‘sustainability’
Companies have been taking a ‘sustainability-as-usual’ approach to the climate crisis—a slow and voluntary adoption of commitments—but that may soon come to an end.
Africa is the key to ending harmful use of polluting fuels in the home
Billions of people around the world, including the majority of Africans and most of the world’s rural population, rely on polluting fuels like wood or charcoal for their cooking energy needs.
Behind the energy crisis: Fossil fuel investment drops, and renewables aren’t ready
The transition to cleaner energy sources isn’t far enough along to meet a surge in demand, forcing countries to rely on fossil fuels.
Nuclear fusion edges toward the mainstream
Long-shot money is flowing into start-ups that seek the energy of the stars. Driving the investments is a rising alarm about global warming.
People get nude in bid to help artist save the Dead Sea
Spencer Tunick stages another art installation of a mass gathering of naked people, this time attempting to raise awareness of the importance of preserving the Dead Sea
Research yields insights into ecology of fishing jaguars, including rare social interactions
Oregon State University researchers and a team of international scientists have gained new insights into the diet, population density and social interactions of a group of Brazilian jaguars.
Tropical wetlands provide storm protection that saves thousands of lives and more than $600bn each year, an Australian-linked world-first study has found.
Why the U.N.’s biodiversity conference is so important
Countries are gathering in an effort to stop a biodiversity collapse that scientists say could equal climate change as an existential crisis.
Plankton are migrating due to climate change (and it could wreak havoc on fish)
Ocean warming is causing plankton to move towards the poles as the oceans warm up – and it could have unforeseeable knock-on impacts, including on fish stocks.
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